Tricks
by Dark Ride
Summary: Investigative Science was an optional course that Gohan decided to take in high school. He did not know he would have to deal with a mysteriously knowledgeable teacher, curious Videl and two assignments that could reveal all of his secrets. GhVi later on.
1. Chapter 1

I realize there are many, many fics out there about Gohan and his school days. But one more cannot hurt, can it? I did my best to bring a new approach to the theme so give it a chance, 'k? Some Gohan/Videl later on because they are my second favourite canon couple.

**Disclaimer:** By now, it should be quite clear that Dragon Ball/Z do not belong to me, given it had already been being published for two years when I was born.

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><p>The school was a nice place once Gohan got used to the multitude of people attending it alongside him, some nicer than the others. The teachers quickly took liking to the polite and attentive student and his courteous and helpful behaviour won him the regard of the majority of his classmates. There was still an occasional suspicious glare tossed his way by one Videl Satan, brought on by his Golden Warrior appearance on the first day of school but as the days passed without any further incidents with that warrior, her suspicions slowly disappeared. The Great Saiyaman was another matter but the two of them had yet to meet face to face and so Gohan was safe on that front for the time being.<p>

Two weeks into the term, their homeroom teacher brought in a stack of pamphlets that he passed on to the students.

"It took slightly longer this time since there was some scheduling trouble but this is the final list of the optional courses offered by the Orange Star High School to the students. Look it over and you have until the end of the week to choose some of them. I'd like to remind you that you cannot pick more than three courses and that once you pick a course, it is going to count as a regular subject, so don't think about slacking off. If you don't feel confident in your ability to handle an additional load, don't choose a difficult course. Now, you have the rest of the lesson to look the pamphlets over and start thinking about your choices."

Gohan took the paper handed to him, quickly looking over his options. The opportunity to attend additional, more specialized lessons, often aimed at gaining practical skills, was one of the main reasons for his attendance to this particular school. One subject name caught his attention as his eyes skimmed down the sheet of paper.

_**Investigative Science**._

It sounded far more interesting than other choices, especially the short description given underneath.

_The goal of this course is to teach students how to do an in-depth research and to improve their ability to think outside of the box. A development of a critical thinking is one of the main necessities for passing the course. The skills learned can be utilized in any field that requires research and analysis - scientific disciplines, journalism, police and detective work and several others._

Gohan smiled. He had already decided he would take this one. The last thing he did was check up the name of the teacher. Ms. L. Trigger. He wondered what kind of person the teacher was but let it go. He would get to see her on Monday, after all.

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><p>After a discussion with his mother, Gohan decided to take only the course in Investigative Science. Most of the other offered courses were merely advanced versions of the normal lessons, for the students who wanted to delve more into languages or sciences. Given that Gohan had already reached a college level of knowledge for most of his academic subjects, the additional classes would be just a waste of his time. IS was the only remotely interesting subject and it would come useful in any scholarly activity he might undertake in the future.<p>

So come next Monday, Gohan didn't head home right after school as usual but he made his way across the school into the classroom number D30. He was among the last people there and when he looked around, he could see it was going to be a small group. There were six people in total, including him. He nodded to some of his acquaintances and sat down in the back of the class, looking expectantly at the door.

Suddenly, the door was slammed open and a panting Erasa appeared in the doorway. The friendly blonde looked across her shoulder as if waiting for someone.

"Hurry up, Vi. The teacher's not here yet."

Gohan sat up straighter. He wasn't that surprised by Videl coming - she had made no secret of her ambitions of being the best possible crime-fighter in town and having honed detective skills went a long way towards that - but Erasa's presence shocked him a little bit. The blonde wasn't stupid, per se, she just showed a lack of interest in anything school related. That she even decided to take an additional class was surprising.

He didn't have time to contemplate it longer because Erasa spotted him and squealed in joy.

"Hey, Gohan! You're taking this course, too?" she headed straight for him just as Videl walked into the room, took a quick look around and then followed her blond friend to the back.

"Gohan," she greeted him.

"Videl, Erasa," he returned as the two sat down next to him before turning to Erasa and explaining. "This was the only course that seemed interesting to me. The rest of the classes wouldn't give me anything new."

"Yes, you're so smart, sometimes I feel so stupid next to you. Maybe you should tutor me in private if I have problems in the class," Erasa winked at him flirtatiously.

"Sure, if it helps you," Gohan stammered, flustered by the attention. "I mean, you're smart enough but if you have trouble with some material..."

"You're so sweet, Gohan," she said while Videl looked on in amusement. Seeing Gohan fall to pieces because of a girl's attention was priceless. The short interplay was interrupted when the door opened again and a blond woman who looked to be in her early forties walked in. She was dressed in a dark blue pants suit and the only accessory she was wearing was a headband holding her curly hair back from her face. She looked the gathered students over as she walked to the teacher's desk, set down a briefcase and then turned to face the class.

"Good afternoon, students," she began. "Welcome to Investigative Science. I am your teacher and you will address me as Miss Trigger. My first name is of no concern to you. There's not that many of you which is just fine. This class isn't for everyone. If you feel that you don't have an open mind and are ready to accept that the world is not what it seems, then you still have a chance to walk away. During the course of the lessons, we will be challenging many of your preconceived notions, often venturing into events that you might deem impossible to have happened. However, everything you are about to learn is the truth. I will be very demanding of you, not in an amount of homework or assignments given but rather in asking you to be ready to accept that anything is possible."

She paused and let the words soak in.

"If you aren't ready to have your world turned upside down, I understand. You can walk out that door and I won't hold it against you. If you decide to stay, though, you are agreeing to consider everything you are told without denying it outright. Is that clear?"

There was an agreeing murmur from the students and everyone stayed seated. Gohan was now very curious. If anyone was used to having their world turned upside down and accepting that anything was possible, it was him.

"Good," Miss Trigger smiled. "Now, I'd like you to introduce yourself and tell me what led you to choosing this particular course."

The answers went along the usual lines. Most of the people present wanted to attend because they had a feeling the course would be useful in their future careers. Erasa wanted to be a journalist which came as a surprise to Gohan but after thinking it over for a while, it made perfect sense. The girl was always in the know as to what was going on in the school. Videl wanted to improve her police work and Gohan himself replied that he was looking for a career in a scientific research.

Once they were done introducing themselves, Miss Trigger opened the briefcase and pulled out several sheets of paper.

"We won't have a standard lesson plan. This course aims to teach you through experience mainly and so I will give you several topics to research. We will discuss your findings in the class, witwh everyone pitching in with their opinions. Now, which one of you have either an interest or practice in martial arts?"

Three hands went up, including Videl's. Gohan didn't raise his since he hadn't trained in martial arts since the Cell Games and didn't feel like pulling his experience out. The teacher, though, had other idea.

"Mr. Son, you didn't raise your hand."

Gohan stared at the teacher. How could she know?

"I'm not interested in martial arts," he replied slowly and the teacher shook her head.

"I said interest or practice, Mr. Son. I was under the impression you were trained."

Everyone was now looking at him and Gohan blushed at the attention. This was something he had wanted to avoid. But how could this woman know he had had training? Gohan had never seen her in his life.

"How do you know?" he asked and Miss Trigger leant back against the desk.

"Mr. Son, I have attended three World Martial Arts Tournaments in the past. The 21st, 22nd and 23rd. I watched as Goku Son and Chichi Gyuumaou got engaged right in the ring and I find it hard to believe that the son of the World Champion would have no knowledge of martial arts."

Videl stood up in her chair so fast it fell over.

"You are the son of Goku Son!"

Gohan laughed uneasily, scratching the back of his head.

"I didn't think it was a big deal."

Videl sank back into her chair, her eyes still trained on Gohan. Not a big deal? His father was a martial arts legend and it was no big deal. Even she was prone to bragging about her Dad, though she had become better about it in recent years.

"Yes, that's all good. Now, can I put you down as a martial artist, Mr. Son?" Miss Trigger asked and Gohan nodded. The cat was out of the bag anyway. Still, the woman remembered his parents after twenty years? That was weird.

"Good. That divides the class nicely into two. Those who are interested in martial arts, please, sit together on the left. The rest of you, gather on the right. These will be your study groups for the two projects you will be working on for the rest of the term. The themes will be these. For the martial artists - Aliens on Earth: Truth or Urban Legend? and for the non-martial artists - Flying and Shooting Beams of Light: A Bunch of Tricks or a Forgotten Technique?"

They could hear the capital letters in the project's names while Gohan was on the verge of suffering a mental breakdown. Both of the topics came dangerously close to his secrets and he wondered if this was some kind of conspiracy to make him reveal them. But that was stupid. Very few people on Earth were aware of the truth concerning both of those matters and all of them were his friends or family. It was just a coincidence. That was all. Gohan looked up at the teacher and was shocked again when she winked at him mischievously.

"Any questions?" she asked, ignoring the spooked out teen at the left side of the classroom.

"Yes," one of the non-martial artists, a boy named Ruler as Gohan recalled asked, "Our project is too easy. Everyone knows that the flying and those beams of light are tricks."

"How?"

"Excuse me?"

"How does everyone know they are tricks?" the teacher elaborated.

"Mr. Satan said so."

The woman sighed sadly.

"And you fail right in the beginning. Tell me, if Mr. Satan told you the sky was green, would you believe him?"

"What?"

"Just answer me."

"No. I know the sky is blue," Ruler said slowly. "But that's different."

"No, it's not. You can't ever rely on a word of a single person. You have to demand proofs. You have to validate things with your own eyes. You have to think about the matter and draw your own conclusion. That's what this course is about. To teach you not to blindly accept what you are told. Always ask, always question things. Otherwise you will be just like the majority of people who are unable to look beyond what is familiar and who are afraid of the unknown. But if humans didn't brave the unknown, we would never have reached the place we are now. If some of us didn't believe in impossible, we wouldn't have the comforts we have now.

Mr. Satan claims those things are tricks. I say they aren't because I have witnessed such feats at the three World Martial Arts Tournaments and I say no tricks are involved. Which of us is right? That's up to you to find out. Do you understand your assignment now?"

The boy nodded as did the rest of his group and Miss Trigger turned to the other group.

"What about you, any questions?"

They looked at each other and mutely shook their heads.

"Very well. You know your assignments. I'd like you to look for some sources until the next week and bring some samples to talk about - magazines, newspapers, videos. Anything that might give you information on your tasks. We will then talk about how trustworthy some of the sources are and how to tell if they are viable. That would be all for today. See you next Monday."

The students stood up and slowly trudged out of the room, the realization that this course was going to be unlike any other sinking in at last. Gohan was in a half-daze and so was the last to leave, catching the sight of his teacher pulling a mobile phone and calling someone. Straining his hearing, he tried to catch some clues to why this woman unsettled him so much.

"Hey, it's me... Yes, I'm done... Fine, I guess. Little spooked by their assignments. And guess what? Gohan's in the class... Yup, looks a lot like Goku except the hair... Okay, I'll tell you later... Okay, meet you in the usual spot... Love you."

"Gohan?"

He was startled to find Videl regarding him with concern.

"You okay? You spaced out there for a moment."

"I'm fine. Did you need anything?"

Videl gestured to where the other two members of the group waited for them.

"We thought we would start on the assignment right away. You coming?"

"Yeah, I'll go."

Gohan shouldered his pack and followed the small crime-fighter down the corridor. One thing was for sure, this year was going to be interesting.

TBC

Well, any comments?


	2. Chapter 2

This is what happens when a new author to the fandom gets an overwhelming positive response - fast update *grin* Next chapter should be up on Monday.

Well, I wasn't exactly subtle about the teacher's identity, eh? But there is more to her being present and since the story will be told mainly from Gohan's POV, it will take some time until all is revealed. For now, enjoy.

Oh, one more thing. I quite like Saiyaman, colourful outfit and Ginyu inspired poses included, so he will be featured quite prominently in this story.

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><p>"So, Gohan, you know the guys?" Videl asked as the two of them joined the other group members.<p>

"Er, not really."

"Okay, that is Paper," she pointed to the tall, lanky brunette who nodded at Gohan, "and that is Kopeer," a boy with a long red hair pulled into a ponytail grinned and flashed Gohan a thumbs-up sign. "Guys, this is Gohan."

"Hi."

"Okay, that's out of the way. Now, how are we going to go about gathering info?" Videl started thinking out loud. Kopeer nudged Gohan.

"And Videl Satan takes charge immediately. Let it not be said that this young lady shies away from a challenge. Oh oh, here she turns around, skewering the commentator with a sharp glare. Scaaary."

"Shut up, Kopeer!" Videl ordered as the boy mimed zipping his mouth shut.

"Don't mind him," Paper told Gohan, seeing how confused he looked. "Kopeer wants to become a sports anouncer and he practices everywhere he goes."

"Yes, he mentioned that," Gohan murmured, less bewildered now. If he remembered correctly, Paper's own ambition was to become a free-lance investigator for big companies.

"So, Mr. Would-be-scientist, what would you recommend as our first step?" Kopeer's silence didn't last long.

"Well, when I need to find or research something, I always start in the library," Gohan scratched the back of his head self-consciously but the rest of the group listened to him with serious expressions. "We could check if there are any books or magazines on the topic. And there are computers so we could also look into the world database to see if we find anything."

"Sounds like a plan," Videl said and the other two nodded in agreement. The four of them started walking, Paper and Kopeer in the front and Gohan and Videl following shortly behind. It didn't take long for Gohan to notice the furtive looks Videl was shooting him and he grew slightly nervous. What had he done to earn her scrutiny?

"Gohan," she spoke at last.

"Y-yes, Videl?"

"If Goku Son is your Dad, then you must know whether all of those things he and the others had done are tricks or not, isn't that right?"

Gohan mentally eeped. That didn't take her long to figure out. How to get out of that one? The blue eyes of the short girl bore into his and a sweat broke out on his forehead. What to say? What to say? He couldn't just tell... That was it!

"I'm sorry, I can't say."

"Why?" she had stopped by then and propped her balled fists on her hips, staring him down despite the fact her head only came up to his chest.

"I don't think Miss Trigger would want me to tell anyone. It could get to the other group and it would mean they wouldn't be able to fullfill their assignment correctly."

"Well," Videl dropped her aggressive stance. "That makes sense. And that must be why she put you in this group, now that I think about it. It's not like you would know anything about aliens."

Gohan fought to contain the urge to fidget guiltily. He was on a first-name basis with all of the aliens on Earth, as far as he knew, never mind being a half-alien himself. He laughed to mask his unease.

"Do aliens even exist?"

"That's what we'd like to find out, so if the two of you Champion kids could get a move on," Kopeer seemed quite impatient, tapping his foot on the ground.

"Sorry," Gohan apologized while Videl only shrugged. It wasn't like they were on a tight timetable. They had a whole week and the school library was one of the largest on the continent. There were bound to be heaps of material for them to use.

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><p>An hour later they realized they were in trouble. While there were several books in the library about aliens, none of those were non-fiction. The closest they got was one history book that claimed that the Demon King Piccolo had been an alien himself. Gohan quickly perused the book if it got any of the facts right but became disgusted with it after it claimed that Piccolo had been a Martian exiled from his planet for being born green instead of blue like the rest of the Martians... At that point, Gohan snapped the book shut and vowed never to look at it again.<p>

The others had even less luck and so after the fruitless search, they decided to look at the magazines and newspapers. There must have been something about Monday because the first magazine Gohan found proclaimed in a large, bold font:

**BULMA BRIEFS' HUSBAND IS AN ALIEN!**

Gohan dropped it down and then quickly scrambled to pick it up again before anyone else noticed. Quickly paging to the article in question, his mind was full of catastrophic scenarios. Vegeta rarely left the Capsule Corporation compound and even that was to train in wilderness at most. Any trips to the public were unheard of. But what if Bulma had put her foot down and dragged him with her to the lunch or to shop or something and some paparazzi caught them on a film, then dug out the Saiyan invasion footage and realized Vegeta was the same person as the alien invader from eleven years ago?

Gohan finally found the article and started reading. Just like the history book from before, it didn't get any of the facts right. It claimed that the mysterious husband of the heiress came from a planet near Alpha Centauri, was on the Earth to study human culture and married Bulma to gain an insight into human life. Gohan was still snickering over that one when Videl appeared behind his shoulder, looking down to see what got his attention.

"You know that that magazine is nothing but rubbish, right? I don't even know what it's doing in the library."

Gohan looked up from his reading and shrugged.

"An example of how not to write?" he joked and Videl snorted.

"You got that right. Why would you even pick that up?"

Gohan turned, showing her the cover and then the article.

"I thought I would check it out. It's total nonsense, of course, but maybe we could bring it as an example of what sources to avoid?" he suggested and the short girl nodded thoughtfully.

"That's a good idea, I'll go and check it o-"

A high pitched beeping interrupted her mid-sentence and she lifted her special communicator to her mouth.

"Videl here."

"Videl, we've got a situation. Two armed men have managed to rob a jewellery store and are currently trying to get away in their vehicle."

"What kind of vehicle and where is it heading?" Videl asked, even as she started gathering her things into her bag, shooting an apologetic glance to the three boys who all listened intently.

"It's a green convertible, currently heading down the 28th street. They are probably trying to get on the highway."

"Understood," she stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "I'll take care of it. Videl out."

The petite crime-fighter turned to her study group partners.

"Sorry guys, I need to go."

"It's okay, we understand," Paper waved her apology off.

"Besides, I think we are done here for now," Kopeer added. "How about we continue this tommorrow?"

"Fine," she replied and turned to Gohan, half-expecting him to say something to her, too. He smiled and scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Erm, be careful, Videl."

"I always am," she replied haughtily before striding out of the library quickly, heading for the roof. The boys all looked at each other.

"So, see you tommorrow?" Gohan ventured and the three of them exchanged quick goodbyes. Gohan purposefully took his time putting his things together, wanting to be the last to leave and keeping watch of Videl's rapidly moving ki to make sure she had yet to reach and confront the two criminals. He himself had made only three appearances as the Great Saiyaman so far and hadn't met Videl at all, having found those crime scenes by accident as he had been flying around. This was the first time he would be directly assisting her and he was considerably nervous. One mistake and she would know it was him.

Finally left alone, Gohan quickly headed for the roof where he stashed his school bag to return for later and pressed a button on his specially designed watch. The Great Saiyaman uniform took place of his regular clothes and he leapt into the sky, the red cape fluttering in the wind as he flew fast over the city.

He could sense he was getting close to Videl and it didn't take long for him to reach her position. She had set down her jetcopter in the middle of the road and stood in front of it, cracking her knuckles repeatedly and staring fixedly down the road. Focusing his much more developed eyesight, Gohan could clearly see the green car driving way past the speed limit, the two small figures sitting inside constantly glancing back.

As the car approached the place where Videl had blocked the road with her jetcopter, the driver jammed his foot on the brake, the car skidding to a stop with a high-pitched squeak that had Gohan wincing in pain. The two men climbed out and glared at the slip of a girl who was barring their way.

"If that ain't lil' Miss Satan," the bigger of the two sneered, his seven feet tall bulky frame dwarfing the young crime-fighter in an almost comical way. Gohan tensed in his spot 100 feet about the scene, ready to dive in the moment Videl was in danger. He needn't have worried.

The big man took a swing at Videl who ducked under the broad swipe and swung her own fist in retaliation, aiming at the abdominal region. Thus temporarily stunning the man, she backed off and then jumped high into the air, her knee hitting his chin and snapping his head back. Lightly kicking off of his chest, she delivered a roundhouse kick to his left temple, effectively knocking him out and landing elegantly back where she had started.

Gohan tilted his head to the side appreciatively. That was actually pretty good, he admitted. But he was roused from his musing when the other men pulled out a machine gun, aiming it at Videl. Taking it as his clue to intervene, Gohan dropped down from his observation spot, landing roughly between the man and Videl, the asphalt cracking under the impact.

"That's far enough!" he declared in a booming voice, pointing his right hand at the confused man. "Your nefarious deeds end now!"

"Who the hell are you?" the criminal cried out and Gohan smiled behind his helmet. He loved this part. Turning swiftly to the right, he stretched his right arm above his head while the left was level with his shoulder. Swinging them around, he reversed the position.

"I am an Angel of Justice! I never forgive evil!"

Doing a set of poses, which included a lot of jumping in place and pointing arms in all directions, Gohan finished in a slight crouch, his arms curled over his head, his hands pointing down towards his face in a V-shape.

"I am the Great Saiyaman!"

A stunned silence greeted that proclammation and Gohan smirked inwardly. _Hah, that sure impressed them_.

"You are crazy," the man whispered to himself but Gohan easily heard him and frowned.

"There is no point in resisting. Put down your weapon now. Miss Videl," Gohan turned his head to see his flabbergasted classmate staring at him in what he thought was fascination but was in fact incredulity. "If you would do the honours and cuff him," he gestured at the man.

The criminal was not about to go peacefully though, strangely dressed men dropping down from the sky or not.

"You're not getting me so easily!" he shouted, pulling the trigger and starting to spray bullets in the direction of the two crime-fighters. Gohan sighed to himself, his arms blurring as he caught all of the bullets easily, dropping them down to his feet. Then he moved towards the man, tore the gun out of his grasp and bent the muzzle upwards.

"You now see your resistance is futile. Give up," Gohan ordered and the man, still staring in shock at his mangled weapon nodded shakily.

"Y-yes, Mr. Saiyaman. Whatever you say."

Videl had snapped out of her stupor by then and quickly cuffed the unresisting man, leaving him close to his unconscious buddy, who had by then been handcuffed as well. Her task done, she whirled around and advanced on the Great Saiyaman who had been observing her with interest.

"So, Great Saiyaman, was it?" she asked and Gohan nodded, offering a hand in greeting, remembering at the last moment to pull off the glove.

"Yes, it's an honour to meet you, Miss Videl."

She batted his hand away and stood up on her tiptoes, trying to peer under his helmet and Gohan suddenly remembered how intimidating this tiny girl could be.

"Stuff it, Saiyaman and answer me. Why are you muscling in on my turf?"

"Muscling in- what?"

"This is my city. I am the one protecting it. If you think you can just drop in suddenly and steal my job, think again," she jabbed her finger into his chest for emphasis.

"But Miss Videl," Gohan protested, appaled at what she thought of him. "I don't want to steal your job. I just want to help people. We don't need to compete. It could work out quite well. What if there's a surge of crime? You can't be in two places at once, after all. You are only human-"

"And you're not?" she seized the opportunity to put him more on the spot. Gohan swallowed hard. Way to put his foot in his mouth. There was no way he could explain, not without revealing more than he already had.

"Erm, I have to go! Goodbye, Miss Videl. It was a pleasure to meet you."

Gohan literally blasted out of there, so fast that Videl's pigtails whipped around in the wind generated by his sudden departure. He could hear her screamed demands for him to come back and answer her questions. Once he had put what he considered a safe distance between them, he slowed down, pulled off his helmet and wiped off the sweat that had accumulated on his forehead. There and then, Gohan had decided that he would restrict his contact with Videl while in his Great Saiyaman costume to the bare minimum. Advanced alien physiology or not, that was a stress he didn't want or need.

"I guess that my life was never going to be easy, huh?" he spoke to himself as he flew leisurely above the Satan City towards his school. "Ah, well. I'll deal with it as it comes. Nothing I haven't done before."

With that thought resonating in his mind, Gohan Son swooped down towards the school roof to pick up his bag and then headed straight home, his thoughts turning towards the many possibilities of what his mother might have cooked for dinner. After all, there was no getting down a Saiyan's stomach, suspicious classmates or not. He would deal with those if and when needed. For now, he would keep his routine and hope for the best.

TBC

**A/N:** I forgot to mention this last time. I have seen the idea of Erasa wanting to be a journalist in **gue22**'s fic _When The Demon Calls_, so credit goes there. The scene of Saiyaman and Videl meeting in this chapter was largely inspired by the manga, though changed as I deemed necessary.

And worst part of writing a DBZ fanfic? Coming up with names for OCs that are appropriate - i.e. Saiyan names being puns on vegetable names or OSHS students' names being puns on office supplies, as in this fic. Well, see you on Monday.


	3. Chapter 3

Let's delve into it, shall we? Oh, and Happy Birthday, **brisingrrider**.

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><p>There was only one way to describe Videl's mood the following morning when Gohan entered the classroom and saw his classmate. Dark. There was a pronounced frown on her face as she was explaining something to Erasa. The blonde was nodding in sympathy to whatever it was that Videl was saying to her. Gohan had a feeling that he, or rather the Great Saiyaman, was the source of Videl's bad mood. So it was with a certain apprehension that he approached his regular seat and sat down.<p>

"Good morning, Erasa, Sharpener, Videl."

"Hey, Gohan," Sharpener nodded at him and Erasa smiled while Videl only growled. Gohan grinned nervously.

"Is something up with Videl?" he asked. It might have been unfair, gathering information this way, but he wanted to know what Videl thought of his superhero identity.

"Don't mind her," Erasa explained. "She's pissed at this Great Saiyaman guy."

"Him? What did he do?"

"He decided to help out with crime-fighting," Sharpener butted in, having been listening to Videl gripe and complain all morning. "And as everyone knows, only the one and only Videl Satan is allowed to kick bad guys' asses in this city."

The blond boxer had to quickly duck a hit that Videl aimed at him.

"That's not true at all," the short girl fumed. "I would have no problem with him if he had decided to go through the official channels. Bu he had just dropped in out of nowhere and started to stick his nose in without asking. I went to the police when I decided to help out. He could do the same."

"Maybe he didn't know he had to do that," Gohan defended himself but shrunk back as Videl shot him a glare.

"Ignorance is not an excuse. Besides, he was rude to me," she huffed.

"Rude to you?"

Gohan honestly couldn't remember a single thing he had said that might have been offensive or rude in any way. Unless she was angry with him calling her Miss Videl instead of Miss Satan. That must have been it. Even with the honorific, he had still presumed to call her by her first name when they had not been acquainted at all. Other than at school, of course, but that didn't count since Videl didn't know the Great Saiyaman was him and vice versa.

"Yeah. He had the nerve to suggest I wouldn't be able to handle it if there was a rise in the crime. 'You're only human'," she mocked. "What, does he think he's some kind of super-human or something? Stupid, costumed jerk. And those poses of his..." she trailed off, leaving Gohan to wonder as to what exactly she had thought of his awesome moves.

Erasa shot the boy an apologetic smile, seeing how uncomfortable he seemed to be.

"She needs to vent, don't mind her too much. Once she gets it out of her chest, she will be better."

"OK," Gohan conceded, pulling out his books for the first lesson before he remembered something. "Videl, Paper and Kopeer said they would meet us at lunch so we could set up another research session."

He was glad that she merely nodded without commenting and teacher's arrival stopped any further conversation anyway. Gohan focused on the lesson but somewhere in the back of his mind, an idea took hold. He would have to talk to Bulma again but he believed it was possible.

* * *

><p>Lunch couldn't come soon enough for the half-Saiyan boy. Even though he had to restrict himself somewhat with the amount of food he consumed, he set into his stack of sandwiches with gusto, their number being just enough to tide him over until the dinner. Two weeks into the term, no one even batted an eye anymore at his eating habits.<p>

Paper and Kopeer made a short appearance half-way through and Gohan and Videl agreed to meet with the two boys after school again. Kopeer kept hinting he had big news, but no matter how much Videl glared at him, he wasn't budging. Gohan watched that with a feeling of envy. If only he knew how to do that.

Due to Kopeer's teasing, Videl's mood that had been raising steadily throughout the day plummeted again. She was frowning, no matter how many times Erasa told her it would leave wrinkles on her face. In the end, even the cheerful blonde gave up, throwing her hands up in defeat.

"I wish you got a call, Videl and took out that bad mood on some bad guys," Erasa complained. Sharpener glanced expectantly at Videl's communicator but it remained stubbornly silent.

"No such luck," the boy commented and then turned to Gohan. "Any ideas how to improve Videl's mood before she bites our heads off?"

Gohan could only shrug helplessly. Unlike the two blondes, he had known Videl for only about two weeks and even though he was included in their group he didn't feel comfortable enough yet to tease the short black-haired girl like them.

"Some genius," Sharpener teased but then turned serious. "What's this about a project anyway?"

"Investigative Science," Erasa replied. "You know, the course you thought would be a waste of your time."

"I'm the captain of the boxing club and we've got a big tournament coming up in half a year. I'll be glad to keep up with my normal homework by then, Miss Smart-ass."

"Yeah, yeah," Erasa waved him off. "Anyway, we've got these assignments we are supposed to work on as a group. Gohan, Videl, Paper and Kopeer are one group and they are doing a research on aliens. My group is supposed to investigate those tricks like flying and such and find out if they really are tricks or not."

Sharpener raised an eyebrow.

"Sounds interesting. So, Gohan, Videl," he turned to the two people who had been content to let the conversation flow over their heads. "You'll be chasing little green men then?"

Gohan reflected that Piccolo was over seven feet tall and couldn't be considered little at all but didn't say anything. Videl, on the other hand, rolled her eyes and replied sarcastically.

"Oh yes, and once we catch those green ones, we'll move on to blonde ones with big mouths."

Sharpener raised his hands defensively.

"Hint received and understood. I'll be shutting up now."

"You better will," Videl grumbled but the banter had served its purpose and she wasn't frowning as much anymore. Sharpener leaned over to whisper to Gohan.

"And this is how you handle women, Gohan."

Erasa heard and it sent her into a fit of giggles that must have been quite contagious because Sharpener started laughing soon after and even Gohan let out a couple of chuckles. He could see that Videl struggled to keep her frown on but her twitching mouth betrayed her and she was soon smiling, too. It was a marked change from her usual serious and often frowning face and a thought passed through Gohan's mind that Videl could be really pretty if she smiled more often. She must have noticed him staring, though because she frowned again.

"What is it?" she asked. Gohan decided to reply truthfully.

"I think this is the first time I have seen you smile."

"What are you talking about?" she demanded. "I smile all the time."

That set off both Sharpener and Erasa again.

"Sure you do, Miss Grumpy," Erasa giggled. "Gohan's right. You only frown and glare all the time. You'll never find a boyfriend like that."

"You seem to be forgetting that any potential boyfriend would have to defeat my Dad first and that's not going to happen so why should I bother looking for one anyway?" Videl stood up from their table. "I'm going to class."

The three students left at the table watched as the petite girl marched straight out the door, jostling other people as she went and not caring.

"Did I offend her?" Gohan asked, unsure if this was normal or not.

"Don't sweat it," Sharpener waved off his concerns. "She always gets like that when Erasa starts harping on about boyfriends. You didn't do anything."

"Why doesn't she have a boyfriend, anyway?" Gohan asked, his curiousity awakened. Even he could see she would be quite pretty if she tried. Surely her personality wasn't such a big deterrent. "Does she scare off every boy or something?"

The blond boxer snickered.

"Got it in one try."

"Yup, and those who aren't scared by Videl herself are scared by her Dad," Erasa added.

"Mr. Satan?" Gohan didn't understand what could be so scary about the man. Sure, he was big and loud but there was nothing scary about that.

"Yeah, he's an overprotective sort of father and he said that any boy who wants to date Videl must fight and defeat him. And since he's the World Champion who defeated Cell..." Erasa trailed off meaningfully. Gohan nodded in understanding, secretly amused by the fact that Videl's situation wasn't nearly as hopeless as she might have thought. Sure, Mr. Satan was strong for a human, he wouldn't be the Champion otherwise, but any ki-trained person could take him down without any trouble.

His musings were interrupted when the bell rang, signalling to the student body that their lunch was over. The three friends gathered their things and went off to the class, each of them secretly hoping Videl had calmed down by then.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day passed without any incidents. Videl was still frowning in the beginning but as no one teased her about it anymore, the frown lessened over time and by the end of the lessons, she wore her customary serious face, not smiling but neither was she frowning.<p>

While the rest of the students rushed eagerly off, Gohan and Videl waited out the human stampede that marked the end of the school day and headed for the library where both Paper and Kopeer waited impatiently.

"About time," Kopeer exclaimed, spotting the two teens. "What took you so long, guys?"

"Never mind him," Paper forestalled any answers they might have had. "He was like this all day because of what he had found."

"So what did you find?" Videl asked the red-head who waved a bunch of papers temptingly above Videl's head.

"It's pure gold, guaranteed to have us passing the course."

"So what is it?" Gohan was now curious as well.

"Well, my younger sister is in the computer club," Kopeer started explaining. "After some bargaining, she agreed to look into the World Database for any info on aliens. And she found this."

He spread the papers out with flourish. Gohan could only stare. The papers were copies of several newspaper and magazine covers, all dated back eleven years.

**ALIENS DESTROY EAST CITY!**

**THE WORLD NAVY CRUSHED IN THE ALIEN ATTACK!**

**PRESS COMMUNITY LAMENTS THEIR LOSS!**

**Z-WARRIORS UNDER YAJIROBE SAVE THE WORLD!**

And several others, all in the similar vein, all of them telling about the Saiyan attack and subsequent battle Gohan himself had been fighting in. He became aware of Kopeer talking and forced himself to listen.

"... bona-fide alien invasion. No wonder we didn't remember, we could have been only what? Five at the time?"

"This is great!" Videl spoke up, looking through the headlines. "I can get the whole issues of the original newspapers and magazines this was printed in, no problem. That will get us articles and pictures and we can set up a presentation. What do you think, Gohan?"

"Great," he spoke up, feeling like his heart would hammer out of his chest. Videl peered closely at him.

"You alright? You look kinda pale."

"I..." he debated with himself what to say and settled for the half-truth. "I guess I'm shocked by this. I never expected something like this would exist."

"I see what you mean," Paper agreed thoughtfully. "I find it hard to believe that the aliens really do exist."

Gohan only nodded. He couldn't tell them that he didn't believe in aliens at all. After all, belief, by its very essence, required that no conclusive proof was given. Once you had the proof, it stopped being a belief and morphed into a knowledge. No, Gohan didn't believe in aliens at all. He knew they existed. More than that, he was one of them. _Now, that would be a presentation that would guarantee us passing the course_, he thought to himself sarcastically.

"And you know what else did I bribe my sister to do?" Kopeer brought their attention back to himself and without waiting for their answer rushed on. "There is supposedly a recording of a part of the fight against those aliens. Purinta promised me she would dig it out so we could watch it but it will take a couple of days."

"Let us know the moment she finds it," Videl ordered before shuffling through the papers again, pulling out the one with a headline about the Z-warriors. "I wonder if we could track down some of these guys and interview them."

"Eye witnesses' account of the events?" Gohan asked, his mouth dry.

"Yeah, it would be something else, don't you think?"

"Something else doesn't begin to cover it," Kopeer said excitedly, almost hopping in place.

"Ok, ok. Calm down," Paper spoke calmly to the agitated boy. "What exactly will we be doing with this material?" he steered the conversation back on track.

"We should do a presentation of some kind, as Videl said," Gohan found himself speaking. "Maybe we should present those gossip magazines first, to show what kind of sources cannot be trusted. Then we pull out these," he gestured to the scattered papers. "They are from different newspapers and magazines, many of them respected. We should also compare the articles within, to see what events they agree on."

"Because those had most likely happened the way they are described," Paper commented. "Sounds good. What about searching for those warriors?"

Gohan shook his head in disagreement. He would delay things as much as he could so that when the inevitable reveal happened - and by this point he didn't know how he could avoid that - the people in the class would be more inclined to listen when he explained himself.

"Let's not take on more than we can handle. We have the rest of the term to figure this out."

"Besides," Videl unexpectedly took Gohan's side. "Miss Trigger only told us to find some sources. She might have said there was no lesson plan but I don't think she wants us to fullfill our assignment in a week. It's not like we learned anything useful, yet. What we found had more to do with luck than anything."

Gohan shot Videl a grateful smile. She might not have understood how much she had just helped him but it didn't matter. The fact was that she had.

"I'll try to have those magazines by tommorrow and we can go through them together," Videl said, gathering all of the papers Kopeer had brought. "And make sure that you're free on Saturday. We will prepare the presentation then."

"My place?" Kopeer suggested. "My sister should have the recording by then and we could watch it, too."

"I don't mind," Paper replied and Gohan and Videl nodded in agreement.

"So, same time and place tommorrow?" Gohan asked and after receiving a confirmation, he stood up. "I've got to run some errands so I'll be going. See you guys."

He walked out of the library, each step harder to take than the previous. The stress was getting to him and he couldn't understand why. He had faced the most terrifying beings in the universe and he had never felt the apprehension as he did now. Was it because the people getting close to his secrets were not his enemies but potential friends? Could that make so much difference?

Gohan stopped at the rooftop entrance and took several deep, measured breaths. Feeling himself calming down, he opened the door and strode to the edge of the building. Pressing the button to change into the Great Saiyaman outfit. He would freak out later. For now, he was going to try and salvage his position within the city. Leaping into the air, Gohan headed for the police headquarters, determined to gain the same recognition as Videl and receive the official blessings to help people in the Satan City.

After he deposited his bag on the roof of the police building, he hovered in front of the windows, peering in and trying to determine which office belonged to the police commissioner. Luckily for him, the second window revealed a table with a plaque that proclaimed that the office belonged to the man in the charge of the police force. The older man sitting at the table was writing something down and thus had yet to spot the flying superhero in the window opposite his desk. Gohan reached out and gave a series of sharp knocks.

The man jerked his head up, looking at the door before he turned his eyes and spotted the hovering Saiyaman anxiously peering in. The office was on the twelfth story and the commissioner rubbed at his eyes in disbelief. When he opened them up, Saiyaman was still there. The commissioner looked nervously around but then seemed to gather his courage and he stood up and opened the window.

"Come in," he invited and Gohan climbed in, coming to a stop in front of the desk. The commissioner quickly sat back into his chair and stared up at the masked fighter in front of him.

"So, what can I do for you, Great Saiyaman? That is your name, correct?"

"Yes, sir," Gohan replied in his heroic voice. "It has been brought to my attention that before I made any attempts at helping out the police in Satan City, I should have asked for a permission from the police force itself. It was a terrible oversight on my part and I offer my sincerest apologies."

"You want to help us?" the commissioner asked disbelievingly.

"That is correct. I want to help people in any way I can, to protect the justice and the innocents that dwell inside this fine city."

The commissioner stared at him for a moment before gathering his wits.

"If I understand correctly, you can fly and you can catch bullets with your bare hands. Is that all or is there something else?"

"Well," Gohan scratched the back of his helmet. "I am also very fast and strong, I have a very good hearing and eyesight and I can shoot energy beams."

"Energy- nevermind," the commissioner seemed to have come to a decision. "I would be an idiot to refuse such capable help. However," he raised one finger. "We'll be keeping an eye on you nonetheless. We have to be sure you have no hidden agenda, you understand."

"Perfectly clear, sir," Gohan replied, glad that the man seemed intelligent enough.

"Good," the commissioner nodded before opening a drawer and rummaging in it. "We always keep several spares in case Miss Satan damages hers so here you go."

He tossed something in Gohan's direction which he easily caught. Turning it over in his hands, he could see it was the same communicator that Videl had.

"We'll be able to contact you through this in case your help is needed. You can also reach us if you happen to spot a crime and need an assistance. Miss Satan has the same model and I think it would be a good idea if the two of you met sometimes to discuss how to divide your duties. No sense in having both of you on call when one is enough."

"Thank you, sir," Gohan put away the communicator. "I'll talk to Miss Satan at the earliest convenience."

"Yes, you do that."

The older man stood up and offered his hand to Gohan.

"Welcome to the force, Great Saiyaman."

"Thank you. I'm glad you decided to have me," Gohan shook the commissioner's hand and spun around. "I'll take my leave then. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Great Saiyaman and good luck."

Gohan waved before shooting out the window in a burst of speed that sent small wind through the room and made a mess of the paperwork on the table. He stopped only briefly to collect his bag and then took flight, not in the direction of Mt. Paozu but rather towards the West City. He was going to ask Bulma to somehow incorporate the communicator into his Saiyaman watch. Besides, he had promised to let Bulma know how his crimefighting was going. And maybe she would have some advice on how to handle his school situation. The woman had got them to another planet. Finding a way to cover up some information should be a piece of cake for her. Or so he hoped.

TBC

**A/N:** Yes, Sharpener is not an asshole or a comic relief in this story. I'm basing the characterizations mainly on manga and he seems quite nice in there.

Not very exciting chapter but we need some build-up before we get into the meat of the story. There are several twists coming up soon and some of the questions regarding the teacher will be answered. I hope to update on Thursday, unless ff dot net decides to prevent me from logging on again. See ya then...


	4. Chapter 4

This chapter is very dialogue-heavy with the first twist coming up. Buckle up, it's starting :D

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><p>Gohan landed in front of the largest of the domes that housed Capsule Corporation in West City and did a quick ki scan of his surroundings. He could feel both Vegeta and Trunks in the same place, their energies dwarfing everything else as they fluctuated in training. Bulma's small energy signal took him longer to find but once he did he wasn't the least bit surprised to feel it located in what he knew was one of her labs.<p>

He pressed the button on his watch, once again changing into his civillian clothes and walked briskly towards Bulma's signal. He found her sitting at a desk, typing something into a computer file while holding a phone to an ear and listening to whomever was on the other side.

Gohan knocked on the doorframe, catching the blue-haired woman's attention. She looked up, gave him a quick smile and raised one finger to ask him to wait before talking into the mouthpiece.

"Uhm... so the reception is positive?... How many?... Eleven? That's a bit uneven... Yes, I know you'll manage... Yes, the others, too but there have been only nine sessions so far... Yes, on the weekend when all twenty-five are done..." Bulma turned to wave Gohan to sit down. "I'll have to go, someone's waiting for me... alright, see you on Saturday. Bye."

Bulma set down the receiver with a click and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it nimbly and taking a long drag before giving Gohan her full attention.

"Hey, Gohan. What are you doing here?"

He pulled out the communicator he had gotten from the police and handed it to her.

"Could you somehow combine this with my watch so I can be alerted when Saiyaman is needed?"

Bulma turned the equipment in her hands, studying it from all angles before giving a nod.

"Sure. It should be easy enough. Just give me an hour or so."

"Thanks."

"So you decided to get legal?" she inquired, already pulling out her tools. "Not going to be a vigilante? Give me the watch."

Gohan took off his watch, observing the blue-haired genius as she set to work on it.

"Videl mentioned that Saiyaman should have gone to the police first and I realized she was right."

"Videl? Who's that?"

"My classmate. She's helping out the police, too and has been for a while."

Bulma seemed completely focused on her work but she still managed a teasing lilt in her voice as she replied to him.

"She wouldn't happen to be the Videl Satan, would she?"

"Yeah, that's her."

"How is she taking to your special class?"

That question floored Gohan. What had Bulma meant by that?

"Special class?"

"Investigative Science, Gohan. You are taking it, aren't you? I know I saw your name on the list and hers, too, for that matter."

Gohan could only stare. How did Bulma even know about that? Even if she had heard from his mother, why would she say she saw the list? And what list had she been talking about? Noticing his silence, Bulma looked up.

"Something wrong, Gohan?"

"What list are you talking about?"

"The list of the students who have signed up for the Investigative Science course."

"But why would you have it?"

Bulma set down the watch and swivelled in her chair, looking at Gohan intently.

"Because the whole thing is my doing, Gohan," she replied, looking confused. "You mean you didn't know? Launch didn't say a thing to you?"

The information overload was getting more and more confusing.

"Who is Launch?"

"Your teacher," Bulma said in a tone that suggested she was surprised he had to ask but then her eyes lit up as she thought of something. "She is blonde when teaching, isn't she?"

"Bulma," Gohan said slowly, trying to fit the pieces together, not having a clue where Miss Trigger's hair colour fit in but he was determined to find out. "I think you should start at the beginning."

The older woman nodded and stood up.

"Let's go somewhere more comfortable."

Gohan followed Bulma down the numerous hallways until they reached the living room. Bulma sent one of her bots to bring them drinks and settled comfortably into the couch while Gohan sank into one of the numerous chairs.

"Okay, so, the beginning," Bulma tapped her finger against her lips in thought. "I guess it started about a year back when Chichi began talking about sending you to school. She was worried about your powers and that you would have to hide them in order to fit in. It was not even your alien heritage that was the problem, just the fact that you could fly would be troubling. And that's when I realized just how much Mark Satan's claims had hurt the Z-Warriors. It's not just you. Trunks and Goten and little Marron and any other child eventually born into our group will have to hide their real selves and abilities. If they don't, they will be labeled as freaks at best and monsters at worst. And all because the majority of people would rather ignore the unexplainable things and pass them off as tricks of some kind."

Bulma stood up agitatedly and started pacing.

"Of course, it's too late to educate the masses and it wouldn't work, anyway. Most of the populace is way too gullible and they eat up anything that the media and their leaders serve them. And that's when I got to thinking. It might have been too late to enlighten the world as a whole but what about enlightening the future, well, let's call them 'public opinion makers'. So I came up with Investigative Science. It was designed to appeal to young and talented people who wanted to know more - future scientists and journalists mostly, maybe also some with political ambitions. The whole goal of the program is to show them the truth about this world, from martial arts techniques involving ki to the reality that we are not alone in space."

She let Gohan absorb the impact of her words. Once he did, he looked up at her with wide eyes.

"They're going to find out everything!"

"That's the point. I know it must seem scary to you but the program was designed that way. Besides, the truth will be given to them, so to speak, in small doses. Enough to let them accept and come to terms with all of those revelations."

"Bulma, my group already dug out the Saiyan attack from eleven years ago."

That made Bulma pause.

"Really? Smart little buggers," she said almost admiringly before catching sight of Gohan's face. "They would have found out anyway. Besides, how do you expect to make friends if you are hiding so much of your true self?"

"You're not helping, Bulma."

Bulma crouched down in front of Gohan, forcing him to meet her eyes. The look in them was almost the same as Chichi had when comforting Goten or Gohan himself when he had been younger. The mother's look.

"Gohan, you know I would never put you in danger knowingly, don't you?"

He nodded reluctantly. Bulma had been something between an aunt and a big sister to him for a long time now. He trusted her but he wasn't sure if her course of action was for the best.

"What do you hope to reach with this program, anyway?"

Bulma, seeing that he was more at ease now, backed away slightly and stood up again.

"As I said, it targeted mainly people with a strong desire to know the truth and with ambitions. In several years, they all will be adults, most of them succeeding in their chosen profession - be it a scientist, journalist, TV star or an ambitious policeman aiming for the city hall. They will all go a long way. They will have power and influence and they will have knowledge of what is really out there. And unless I'm very mistaken, that will make majority of them our allies. They should be able to change the public opinion bit by bit until you guys are no longer considered tricksters and freaks. Just some people whose abilities are more extraordinary than usual."

"But Bulma," Gohan spotted a flaw in her planning. "There's only eight of us in the class. You are going to need a lot more people to pull it off."

Bulma rolled her eyes at him.

"And where would you get the idea that your class is the only one?" she smirked at him confidently. "There are twenty-five classes all over the world, with attendance ranging from six to twenty people. There are more than three hundred young people this year and we plan to keep it going for at least five years, ten if we keep our backing."

"Backing?"

Bulma pulled out another cigarette to light, pointedly ignoring one of the beeping bots that immediately rolled towards her.

"It took me a year to pull off because I had to lobby for an approval from most of the departments and ministries for education, never mind the ministries of defence. I have spent a better part of the last year trying to convince politicians and industrialists both that this will have a positive impact in the end. If King Furry didn't back me up, I'm not sure things would have gone as well. And I still had to agree to pay all of the expenses for the classes, from the equipment to teacher's salaries. Luckily, that left me a free hand when it came to choosing them."

That reminded Gohan that he had yet to be given an explanation about his teacher.

"Who is Miss Trigger?"

Bulma grinned, dropping the butt of her cigarette carelessly to the floor, the small bot hovering close zipping in and catching it before it could touch the ground.

"An old friend of your Dad and me. Well, all of us, really. She was part of the group until the 23rd WMAT. Then we lost contact but we met again a couple of years back and have been keeping up ever since. She gets bored easily in the mountains, though and when I offered her this job, she agreed. Although, I think she also wanted to meet you. Her name is Launch, or at least that's what we call her when she's blonde."

"When she's blonde?" Gohan repeated.

"You need to see it to understand. Why don't you stop by on Saturday? She'll be here with the rest of the teachers to give their reports on how the initial lesson went. I can introduce you properly."

"I already have some plans," Gohan declined, too late realizing that Bulma drew a wrong conclusion.

"Ah, a hot date? Nice going, Gohan. Who's the lucky lady? And does Chichi know?"

Gohan knew he was blushing furiously and that he had to nip this in the bud.

"No, our study group is having a meeting. We plan on watching the recording of the Saiyan attack."

That tore Bulma from her cheerful mood.

"You got your hands on a copy?"

Gohan shook his head.

"Not me. One of the guys in my group, Kopeer, has a sister who is in a computer club and she found out for him. That's why I came to you today. Not just for the watch, but also to ask what to do about it."

Bulma spread her arms helplessly.

"I have no idea. I don't know how much they'll be able to glean from some old video or if they would recognize you there. You know them better."

"I have known the guys for less than two days, except for Videl whom I have known for about two weeks. I don't know how they'll react or what they'll work out from the recording. They already know about my Dad and Videl worked out almost immediately that I knew the truth behind the ki techniques."

"And what did you say to that?"

"That I wasn't supposed to tell because it could get to the other group."

"Then do the same thing again," Bulma smiled. "If they find out about your involvement, tell them you were forbidden to provide any further information."

"That's going to make Videl very happy," Gohan quipped sarcastically, missing the thoughtful glance that Bulma shot him.

"Then also tell them that they will get their answers by the end of the term for sure. They just need to be patient and pay attention to the teacher. They can't be told everything at once because they wouldn't be able to handle it. It's the course's policy. If they were to know everything by the second lesson, why even bother setting up a course, right?"

Gohan sighed heavily but nodded. It wasn't an advice he had hoped for but under the circumstances, it was the best he was going to get. Besides, the fact that Bulma had been the one behind it all calmed him down. She had as much at stake as him, what with both her husband and son being such an integral part of the whole thing.

"Gohan?" Bulma was at the door, looking back at him. "I'm going to finish your watch. I'll send a bot when it's ready, ok?"

"Sure. And thanks."

She flashed him a smile and left. Gohan sank back into the chair, massaging his nose tiredly. He was glad for the time he was given to recover from all of the revelations heaped on him that day. Now, all he had to do was hope that things worked out as Bulma had planned. But somehow, he didn't think it was going to be that easy. Things never were for him.

TBC

**A/N:** Slightly shorter but I don't want to draw your attention from the things revealed in this chapter. They are very important to the overall plot. Next chapter, updated on Monday, the group will watch the video. How will that go? We shall see.


	5. Chapter 5

I have to say I'm blown away by your enthusiastic response. Thank you very much to everyone who reviewed, favourited, alerted or even clicked the fic. You are the best.

* * *

><p>The rest of the week passed uneventfully for Gohan, at least compared to the first two days. Videl had brought the promised magazines on Wednesday and their group divided them equally, agreeing to put off any further research until Saturday and to focus on their normal classes for the time being. The Great Saiyaman had been called in to assist the police only twice, once after school and once during the lunch so there had been no problem for Gohan to get away to do his hero routine. He had yet to meet with Videl again but he was quite happy to put that encounter off for as long as he could.<p>

Come Saturday, Gohan was standing in front of a nice house in the suburban area of Satan City, double-checking the address to make sure he was in the right place. He walked up the short pathway and rang the bell, looking around idly.

The door swung open and a girl who appeared maybe a year or two younger stood there, looking up at him with interest. She had red hair, several shades lighter than Kopeer and a spattering of freckles across her pale face.

"Hi, can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm Gohan. I'm working on a project with Kopeer-"

"Yes, I know," the girl interrupted. "You're the smartest guy in the school."

Gohan blushed lightly.

"I wouldn't put it that way."

"I would," the girl said in the same blunt way that Kopeer was known for. "Come in, Paper and Videl are already here. I'm Purinta, by the way."

Gohan followed Purinta inside, taking off his shoes and putting them beside two other pairs already present.

"Nice to meet you. You are the one who found those materials for us, aren't you?"

"Yup, that's me."

She led him into a room upstairs where Videl and Paper already waited - Paper with his usual calm and Videl with a barely veiled impatience.

"About time you got here, Gohan," were the first words out of her mouth. Paper rolled his eyes behind her back before he raised a hand in greeting.

"Don't mind her. She had a call in the morning and got here later than she planned. Not like we can start without Kopeer, anyway," he pointed out.

"Where is he?" Gohan asked. Purinta snickered from where she stood in the doorway.

"Finishing his chores, I believe. That is, the chores that I usually do but he agreed to do them this week for me. And the next week, too," at Gohan's questioning look, she smiled smugly. "I don't work for free. He wanted those headlines and video, I told him he could work for it."

"You're only lucky those things are worth it," Kopeer finally made his appearance, shoving his sister out of the way. She merely sticked out her tongue at him.

"Whatever. All of the things I was able to find are in the folder titled Alien stuff, including some I was able to dig out on the guys in the video. Knock yourselves out."

"Things like this make me wish I was an only child," Kopeer murmured before plopping down into a chair in front of his computer. He clicked the mouse several times, opening the folder that Purinta had created. "Here it is. What should we do first? Watch the video or go through the papers?"

"Let's watch the video," Videl suggested as she perched herself on the bed. Kopeer nodded, turning the monitor towards the rest of the group.

"Turn off the lights, Gohan," he asked and Gohan did so, curious as to how much had been caught on camera that day. He had noticed the news crew and had been horrified when Nappa had blown them up but at that time, he had had more pressing problems to deal with.

Since the shades had been pulled down beforehand, the room was plunged in darkness that only the monitor light pierced through. Kopeer opened a video player and started the video, displaying it on full screen before pushing his chair back so he could watch comfortably. Gohan sat down on the carpet, his height making it easy for him to watch even from the ground. The age of the recording was obvious but the visual feed was quite clear.

The recording panned over a mountainous terrain with several hills and plateaus scattered around until it stopped upon two groups of people. A tall green man, a short bald one and a child who couldn't have been more than five years old stood across from a large hulking bald man and a smaller one with tall, spiky hair, the latter two dressed in an armor of some kind. The two groups seemed ignorant of their observers. Gohan was surprised by his first thought upon seeing the scene.

_I can't believe I was so short,_ he mused, watching his younger self standing at Piccolo's side and trying hard to appear brave. _And wow, even Vegeta looks shorter than he is now. Or it might be because he's standing next to Nappa._

"Which group are the aliens?" Paper asked quietly. A reporter seemed to be talking over the scene, mentioning that the video was a satellite feed and that news crews were enroute to get closer and bring more info.

"The ones in the strange armor," Gohan replied unthinkingly. Videl turned to him.

"How would you know? The big green guy looks more like an alien to me."

Gohan shrugged.

"Well, the guys in the armor look more alien to me," he said, leaving out the detail that from the five beings present on the screen, Krillin was the only human.

"I wonder what that kid is doing there," Kopeer spoke, leaning closer to get a better look.

"He's dressed like the green guy," Videl noticed. There was a flicker in the feed and it changed an angle at which the events were recorded. Instead of a bird's eye view it was now taken partially from the side. There seemed to be a discussion going on between the two groups, the green guy talking to the intruders. He looked surprised at something but then composed himself and slid into a fighting stance.

"He's quite good," Videl said, her head cocked to the side as she studied him. The aliens took off the strange machines that looked like some kind of hands-free set with a visor over one eye and the big one pulled out a small flask. He took out some seeds, pushing them into the ground and dripping some liquid over them. The reporter commented with confusion on this happening before the ground burst open, small green creatures literally growing from the ground.

"Holy shit!" Kopeer yelped. There was a similar exclammation from Paper while Videl turned to Gohan.

"Looks like you were right about those two being aliens. But what the hell are those things?"

Gohan recognized the question as a rhetorical one, though he would have been more than able to answer it fully. Saibamen or also known as Cultivars. Cultivated life forms with power level sitting at 1200. Vegeta had mentioned once how he had been killing them when he was but a child. No free will, a little more than biological training tools and scary as hell with their unnatural appearance and creation.

"I wish we could hear what they are talking about," Paper mumbled, transfixed by the happenings in the video. Just then, several figures dropped down from the sky. A tall man with three eyes, a small floating child-like figure and another tall man with long hair and a scarred face.

"Isn't that Yamcha?" Kopeer peered closer at the screen.

"Looks like him," Paper replied even as Kopeer paused the video and jumped up to dig around in his desk, pausing only to lit up his desktop lamp. He pulled out a paperback book and thumbed through it quickly, finally finding what he was looking for.

"Aha! I knew it was him," he pointed out a short article in the book to the other three. It spoke about Yamcha's baseball career, enumerating his successes and there was a photo of him. The man in it had shorter hair but was otherwise identical with the one in the video.

"Let's continue watching, we can try and dig up more later," Videl said as she turned to the screen expectantly. Gohan sat back down, his mind whirling with the many possibilities of what would happen once the others saw Yamcha die. Kopeer shut off the lamp and started the video again. The three-eyed man stepped forward as one of the little green monsters did likewise. There was a burst of static that raced across the screen as the man shot a beam at the monster. The monster's head split open, shooting some obviously acidic liquid that the Earth group scrambled to avoid. But the monster didn't pay attention for a crucial moment and was hit backwards by a blow from the three-eyed man, who turned to accept congratulations from the other warriors while the big alien looked dismayed. The short one, on the other hand, seemed to be very calm. And then he blew the defeated monster up just as it climbed to its feet, shocking everyone present.

Gohan shook his head. He had forgotten what Vegeta had been like once. It was strange, seeing him in a position of an enemy. Nowadays, he was something of a gruff uncle that you do your best to avoid but who is a part of the family nonetheless. Not that he would ever tell Vegeta that. Strange how eleven years made so much of a difference.

It was Yamcha's turn to fight and he stepped forth, exchanging a couple of words with the short bald guy.

"I really wish we could hear what they are talking about," Paper repeated as he watched avidly. And then the three people in the room gasped because both Yamcha and the green monster disappeared from view. Gohan just shrugged. The cameras at the time simply weren't equipped to keep up with a high-speed combat like that. The view swept up and down, trying to find the disappeared combatants, the static getting progressively worse as Gohan realized that the amount of ki expelled by the warriors interfered with the electronic devices. It didn't take long for the two figthers to appear again. The green monster impacted with the ground, creating a crater with its body as Yamcha shot it from above. The scar-faced warrior landed at the edge of the crater, not paying much atention to his defeated foe, instead talking with the others present. And then the monster made its move, leaping up and latching on Yamcha before exploding. Once the smoke settled down, only the battered body of the Earth fighter remained unmoving on the ground. The short bald fighter ran over, turning the body of his friend and checking for signs of life. Even without a sound, the conclusion was clear. Yamcha was dead.

"That doesn't make sense!" Kopeer cried out as he paused the video again. "He can't be dead!"

"We just saw him die," Videl pointed out harshly.

"But it happened eleven years back," Kopeer argued. "And he's still playing for West City. Hell, I saw all of his games just last year. Unless he's some kind of a zombie-"

"Maybe he was just badly hurt?" Paper suggested with his usual tactful approach. "What do you think, Gohan?"

All of the eyes in the room focused on him and Gohan rubbed the back of his head uncertainly. Bulma's words about hiding his true self from his friends rang in his mind. He could tell them the truth easily. But did he trust them enough? Then again, Kopeer's sister said she had done some research on the guys in the video so it was quite possible they would find out anyway. This way he could control the amount of information they received. He looked at each person in the group and sighed as he resigned himself to the inevitable.

"He was killed," he spoke up and then held off a hand to ward off Kopeer's protests. "He was killed but a couple of months later, he was brought back to life."

That silenced them completely. Videl was the first one to find words.

"That's impossible."

"Not impossible, Videl. Unlikely, yes. Impossible? Far from it."

"But how would you know?" she asked at last. Gohan stood up, not wanting to face any of them when he spoke.

"I want to ask you guys something."

"What is it?" Paper seemed to catch on that this was far more serious than they could even imagine.

"What I'm about to tell you mustn't leave this room. At least not yet."

"What are you talking about?" Videl asked and Gohan could hear her stand up and march over to him. She stood behind him about to reach out and turn him around when he did so on his own and she stumbled back in surprise.

"You must give me your word you won't say a thing about what I'm going to tell you. I mean it, guys."

"Okay, you've got my word," Paper agreed quickly. Kopeer quickly followed suit and Gohan looked down at Videl.

"Videl?"

She gave a short nod.

"I promise I won't say anything."

"Good," Gohan sighed and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "The thing is that I know all of the guys in that video."

"You what?" Videl reacted first and Gohan gave her a look which quietened her down.

"You already know that I am a son of Goku Son. The warriors in that video, the ones who were fighting those aliens, are all old friends and acquaintances of my Dad from the World Martial Arts Tournaments and some of his adventures when he was younger. The short bald guy is Krillin. They studied together under Master Muten Roshi, also known as the Turtle Hermit before Dad set out on his own. Yamcha was Roshi's student, too, though he met my Dad even before that. The guy with three eyes is Tien or Tenshinhan. He won the 22nd Tournament, beating my Dad in the finals for the title. The small guy who arrived with him is his friend Chiaotzu. They are both from the Crane Hermit's school of martial arts. Finally, the big green guy is Piccolo. My Dad beat him in the finals of the 23rd Tournament when he finally became the Champion."

"And the kid?" Paper asked, a knowing glint in his eyes. Gohan took a deep breath. Well, as they say, in for a zeni...

"That would be me," he confessed quietly. A stunned silence greeted him and he risked a glance around the trio of his friends. Paper and Kopeer stared at him with a mix of respect and awe while Videl... Videl's look was part surprised and part calculating.

"Let me get this straight. You fought against aliens when you were five years old?"

"That's correct," Gohan nodded. Videl crossed her arms.

"Why? You couldn't have been that strong. You were just a kid."

"It's complicated," Gohan sighed. "Listen, I shouldn't even be telling you this much but since I was told you would find out anyway, it doesn't really matter when I tell you."

"What do you mean?" Videl dropped her arms from their position.

"It means that we were expected to find and watch this video, just not so soon. I shouldn't even be taking the course since I know about everything you are going to find out," Gohan told them. He had asked Bulma if he should drop the course but she had told him to keep attending. After all, she pointed out, even if he knew everything, he had had no idea how much of the information was available to the public and so instead of searching for the truth, he would be searching for the sources and learning the methodology of research. "As far as information is concerned, I already know it all."

"But how?"

"I have lived with it, of course. My Dad and his friends have been using those alleged tricks for years and I was taught how to do them, too. I know about aliens because I fought them when I was younger. And an alien trained me, too."

"That Piccolo guy?" Videl guessed and Gohan nodded.

"It's almost scary how quick you catch up," he commented. "You see, guys? I could give you all of the answers but that would just hurt you in the long run so I tried to keep quiet for as long as I could."

"What do you mean it would hurt us?"

Gohan sat down on the bed, studying his hands intently.

"You all signed up for Investigative Science because you want to know the truth, right? You want to know what is real and how to go about finding out. You don't want to settle for what you are told. You want to find out for yourself. But you must also realize that sometimes the truth is so out of this world that you can't comprehend it at once. It might go against everything you have known and believed and it can literally turn your world upside down."

"What are you trying to say, Gohan?" Videl watched him carefully.

"That sometimes, the truth must be given in small amounts so it doesn't overwhelm you. I talked with the person who had come up with Investigative Science. They told me that they plan on having all of the people who are taking the course find out everything that is not known to public, at least when it comes to the two topics we were assigned. They also told me that I was to keep quiet until the teacher gives me permission to reveal things or you found out on your own."

"Wow!" Kopeer breathed out. "That's some heavy stuff, Gohan."

"You're telling me?" Gohan answered wryly. So far, so good. Neither of them looked ready to run away or to call journalists on him. "I have lived through it and still find it hard to believe."

"And are you okay?" Paper asked. "I mean, you know those people and you just saw one of them die again. Aren't you reliving it or something? Maybe some flashbacks? Trauma?"

Gohan shook his head in negative.

"Trust me, I'm surprised myself it doesn't affect me more. Maybe knowing things will work out in the end is helping me watch it without much of an emotion. Actually, the thing that got me the most is how short I was back then."

"That's weird," Videl commented, though she looked slightly pissed off with his "short" remark. Gohan had almost forgotten that she was somewhat sensitive about her height.

"I know."

There was silence again before Videl got up and stalked to the video.

"Let's finish watching and Gohan can fill us in on everything afterwards. That is, everything he's allowed to tell us," she amended and pushed the play on the media player again before settling back down to watch the rest of the video.

TBC

**A/N:** I'm cutting the chapter short because, well, I've got a bad case of cold and typing is kind of difficult with runny nose and eyes that won't stop tearing up and a headache the size of Namekian Dragon Balls. But I wanted to update on Monday as I promised. The rest of the chapter where they finish watching the video and other stuff I planned on having in it will be up on Thursday, sometime around 11.30 a.m. GMT+01:00, barring some emergency.

Also, it may seem like Gohan is spilling his secrets easily but if you look closer, you find out he's only telling them things they could find out themselves with little effort.

And the most difficult part about writing this? Other than constantly checking manga for reference (easier to read a chapter than rewatch a whole episode - or ten) it was having to constantly remind myself that I'm writing a serious fanfic based on DBZ, not DBZ Abridged. I can't wait for the episode 28. It's supposed to be a two-parter. Woot!


	6. Chapter 6

Okay, here's the follow up from the last chapter.

* * *

><p>The video started up again, even though the static was worse than before. Krillin, who had been kneeling by Yamcha's body stood up, his face angry. Gohan watched as the short fighter powered up and then released his devastating attack upon the Saibamen, the balls of ki behaving like controlled missiles and taking out three of the green monsters. Kopeer cheered at that point and Gohan had to smile. And then there was the last of the Saibamen jumping out but Piccolo disposed of him effortlessly.<p>

Gohan looked at the others. Paper and Kopeer were watching the video like one would watch an interesting movie, with certain apprehension but detached from the happenings. Videl, on the other hand, was paying close attention to it, her eyes moving rapidly back and forth, trying to absorb as many details as possible. She wasn't watching it, she was studying it, committing most of it to her memory.

Returning his attention to the recording, Gohan watched as Nappa finally stepped forward to challenge the Earth warriors. He knew that the next minutes would be brutal, even more than they had been up to that point. It couldn't even be called a fight, since that implied certain fairness would be present. However, what Nappa had done to them had been a massacre.

Paper went completely white when Nappa tore off Tien's arm and laid into the three-eyed fighter mercilessly. Seeing it all again, Gohan was taking notice of many things that he had missed when it had been just happening. He could see Vegeta in the background occasionaly when the camera panned over for a better angle and it was the expression on his face that caught Gohan's attention now. He leaned closer to the monitor, trying to work out what the alien prince could have been thinking at the time. Back then, Gohan and the rest of them hadn't paid much attention to the shorter fighter, not with Nappa keeping their attention. They hadn't even realized that the flame-haired man was the stronger of the two, mistakenly assuming that the size was a deciding factor.

Vegeta was evaluating the fight, Gohan finally realized. It was there in his eyes, the way he was taking notice of every detail. He was watching and remembering, ascertaining the caliber of his foes and working out tactics for defeating them if Nappa's brutal assault wouldn't prove enough. But it was not only that. He was watching the fight with a Saiyan's perspective, appreciating the beauty - for lack of a better word - of the carnage and violence. He was enjoying himself because there was a fight to observe and maybe even join in later and no Saiyan could resist such a thing. Vegeta had tried several times to impart this opinion to Gohan. To show him that fighting and violence meant more for Saiyans than just means to an end but Gohan had rejected those teachings, choosing his human heritage and viewing fighting only as a necessity to protect the world.

Gohan knew that while he might have been a half-Saiyan, it was his human side that dominated his personality. He lacked the thirst for battle that was so prominent in other members of his father's race. He disliked fighting and watching the video brought this all into a sharp detail. All he could see was his friends being beaten down. He flinched when Chiaotzu attempted to blow up the big Saiyan, losing his life without making any difference. Gohan might have said that knowing the outcome made it easier to accept the brutality on screen but he still felt something cold settle into his stomach.

"Just how many will die?" Paper whispered, clutching at his stomach and looking like he might hurl at any moment. On the screen, Piccolo and Krillin attacked Nappa who had been focusing on Tien and missed their advance. Gohan winced at what had followed. Back then he had frozen, completely and utterly, and thus had cost them all a valuable chance. What would have happened had he attacked like he was supposed to? Would he have injured the Saiyan at the very least? Or would his attack have been just as ineffectual as the others had been?

A muffled gasp from Paper brought Gohan out of his thoughts and he watched as Tien had fired his Kiko-ha and slumped to the ground, dead from spending all of his ki in the attack. And yet Nappa was barely singed.

"Is that guy invincible or something?" Kopeer asked in frustration.

"No, just very powerful. Compared to the warriors at that time, anyway," Gohan replied distractedly. The things in the video were speeding up to the end. Gohan had remembered that it had been during the three-hour grace period that Vegeta had given them that Nappa had done most of his attacks on the world, including the one that took out the gathered news crews. The video would be over soon and he would have to field several more questions from the others, most of them coming from Videl who had been watching the video like a hawk. It was really lucky he could say that he was forbidden to share some of the more sensitive information, yet.

Piccolo and Krillin floated down from where they had been facing against Nappa. There was an unheard exchange between Vegeta and Krillin but Gohan knew it was about his Dad and his hoped-for arrival. Nappa geared up to attack and Vegeta stopped him with a single command.

"Who's the short guy?" Videl mumbled. "He didn't fight at all."

The two sides split up, the Saiyans going off to one side, the remains of Earth defenses gathered close together. Gohan could still remember the chewing-out he had received from Piccolo and Krillin's attempts to defend him. He was glad that he wouldn't have to watch Piccolo's sacrifice. Or that there was no record of his Dad's arrival, either. He would have to skirt around the issue carefully when talking to the others.

The camera was just returning to the alien invaders when the big one launched into the air. The camera attempted to follow him but all it caught was a trail of ki before a light sparkled in the distance and grew brighter, the last thing that the camera had caught being the ki-blast that had most likely took out everything in a radius of five hundred feet, if not more. The gray static was immediately replaced by the studio and a frantic commentator speaking of the tragedy that had most likely befallen the crew on the spot. The video cut out soon after.

"That's all?" Videl asked, jumping to her feet. "Why isn't there more? How did the fight go after? Why did it even pause?"

Then a thought occured to her and she turned to face Gohan, ignoring Kopeer who turned on the lights in the room again, merely blinking to let her eyes adjust.

"What happened after the video cut off?"

Gohan sighed, realizing that maybe he should have waited with saying he had been present only after they finished watching and he made sure that Purinta had really found out the truth of the fighter's identities.

"There was more fighting, two new arrivals managed to turn the tide in our advantage and the aliens were defeated. That's all I'm saying for now."

"You can't let us hang like this, man!" Kopeer was taking Videl's side in this one it seemed. "Who took out the big guy? And why wasn't the short one fighting? Hell, why were they on Earth in the first place?"

"And how come the dead came back to life?" Paper interjected quietly, still pale but his colour was improving.

That question, at least, deserved an answer. Not a complete one but truthful enough that Gohan wouldn't feel like lying.

"As I said, Piccolo is an alien."

"Obviously," Kopeer muttered as he sank into his chair and started clicking on the other files in the folder. Gohan glanced over to see that most of those were the official tournament profiles, including names, photos and fighting styles, the other information withheld from the official pages to protect the contestants' privacy.

"There is a special technique that his race is capable of and it is this technique that was used to bring the dead to life. I can't really say more, I'm sorry."

Kopeer shrugged, still looking through the profiles.

"Yeah, you might have as well kept quiet. Most of the things you told us is here, look," he turned the monitor so the others could see. "Well, the fact that Piccolo is an alien is new. Maybe we could interview him? Could you set that up?"

"Hey, that's a good idea," Paper spoke up, no longer as shaken as he had been. "If he taught you martial arts, he might be willing to do you a favour. How about that?"

Gohan looked like a deer caught in the headlights and felt similar to the proverbial animal. There was no way to stop an oncoming crash but shouldn't he at least try?

"I... I... I can ask him," he got out at last because really, what else could he have said? "But I'm not guaranteeing a thing. He's a very solitary person. He might not want to come."

"Well, ask him and after that we'll work with what we have," Kopeer said cheerfully.

"Speaking of working," Videl said after being quiet for some time, apparently thinking about something. "We should start on that presentation. Since we were supposed to bring in some sources, we will focus on the magazines and newspapers. And I think we should keep the video quiet for now."

"Why?" Paper turned to face the girl.

"Because we are still missing a lot. Gohan said he knew but wouldn't tell us until we were ready, right Gohan?"

"Yeah. I promised to keep quiet."

"And so did we. So we sit on the video for now and also on the info about those guys. You said we would find out everything by the end of the term and I'm willing to wait a few months if I get to find out everything by then," Videl tapped her fingers on the table. "But there is one thing I'd like to know now."

"Y-yes?" Gohan was quite unsettled by the determined glint in her eyes. He knew what she was doing. She was agreeing to back off on everything and making Paper and Kopeer do the same but he would have to buy that peace with some information. He had no idea what she would ask. What if she asked about his Dad and why hadn't he been fighting alongside them? Or what is she wanted more info on the aliens? Gohan had quickly gone in his mind over everything he had said but not once had he said anything that would mean he knew one of those aliens beyond fighting him once, had he?

"How were they flying?"

The simplicity and harmlessness of that question compared to what he had imagined caught him off-guard and that might have accounted for his unguardedly quick and truthful answer.

"Oh, it's just a ki technique, really simple once you..." Gohan trailed off, realizing what he had just let out of bag. Videl smiled triumphantly.

"So, a technique, hmm? And what's this technique called, Gohan?"

The way she spoke his name sent shivers down his spine. It was like he was a helpless prey and she a ruthless predator.

"Eh, heh," Gohan scratched the back of his head, his eyes flicking side to side in search of an escape route but there was none. "I'm not supposed to say?"

He wanted to kick himself for sounding so unsure.

"C'mon, Gohan," once again that predatory inflection on his name. "I won't go running to Erasa to tell her. This is for satisfying my personal curiousity."

A quick look to the other two boys showed Gohan there was no help coming from them. If anything, they seemed highly amused by his plight. Gohan quickly weighed the pros and cons of the situation. Pros - the video and all related reveals would be put off until the appropriate time. Cons - giving in into Videl might make her think that putting a little pressure on him was enough to make him crack. Not that it was entirely untrue but still... He might have chosen to live as a human but he had a healthy dose of that Saiyan pride that Vegeta could keep on about for hours. One little girl cracking him like that? Unthinkable.

"Gohan? I'm waiting," she was frowning at him and her look was steadily progressing into a glare.

One little girl glaring like that? Giving in suddenly seemed very thinkable. Besides, he didn't like it when she frowned like that and sharing that information couldn't hurt, could it? She said she would keep it to herself.

"It's called Air Dance and it's a technique developed by the Crane Hermit school of martial arts. The same school that Tien and Chiaotzu are from."

"See, was it that hard?" Videl was smiling triumphantly.

"Yes, you are scary when you glare like that," Gohan replied without thinking, too late realizing what he had said. Before he could retract his statement, both Kopeer and Paper burst out laughing, whether it be on Gohan's verbal slip or on videl's offended face was hard to tell.

"Oh, shut up, you two," she snapped at the laughing duo who just laughed harder. Gohan was blushing because even he realized that he shouldn't have said that. And why did Videl seem that intimidating to him? It couldn't be from her power, because while strong for a human, she couldn't even come close to him, even if he hadn't trained in years. Gohan resolved to think more on the matter later on.

"Could we start on that presentation?" he knew that as far as changing subjects went, his attempt was pathetic but it seemed to work and the four teenagers pulled out the materials and started putting together the first results of their research, three of them silently wondering just how much would be revealed to them as the time passed.

TBC

**A/N:** Yes, it's short. Remember, this one was supposed to be included with the previous chapter so they are more like one big chapter only split in two. Next chapter, glorious return of Launch and Saiyaman. And Videl makes one very big mistake. Could you care to guess what? Some clues were given in this chapter. See you on Monday...


	7. Chapter 7

You know that wonderful feeling when you manage to pull off something clever? It's fantastic. Why do I mention that? None of the guesses given for Videl's "mistake" were right. Read on to find out more.

* * *

><p>It took them a better part of the afternoon to put together a presentation that all of them were content with, not for the lack of materials but rather because of a difference in opinions. The first version was too boring, according to Kopeer. His take on the matter was disliked by Paper who thought it was too bombastic and sensational. At that point, Videl lost what little patience she possessed and deleted both of their attempts, sat Gohan down in front of the monitor and said that whatever he came up with would be used. That didn't stop her, or the boys, from hovering over his shoulder as he worked and giving comments and suggestions as to what he should write or not.<p>

Gohan reflected with a rare self-deprecation that the course would teach him something new, after all, even if it was only how to work in stressful situations and with many distractions around him. Interruptions or not, he had managed to finish the presentation and neither of his group had any objections to the final product. Well, at first it looked as if Kopeer was about to say something but a smack upside the head, courtesy of Videl - who had to jump a little to reach - had him agreeing with everyone else. Copies were made for every member of the group so that they could go over it and prepare for Monday.

Kopeer's mother invited them for dinner but Gohan declined, well aware that the little he would be given wouldn't be enough to feed him. Saying he lived a long way off had him off the hook immediately. He said goodbye to everyone and walked down the street, checking to see if anyone was close and sensing no one, he took to the air and headed for the West City. He might have been somewhat hungry but he wanted to meet his teacher in informal setting and Bulma had mentioned that the woman would be staying in Capsule Corporation until Sunday.

Upon his landing, Gohan could immediately sense the gathering of small kis in one of the smaller domes. If he recalled correctly, it contained a small lecture hall. Apparently, the meeting was still on and that meant Bulma and Miss Trigger - Launch - were still tied up in that. Gohan shrugged and let himself into the main dome, scanning the rest of the compound for familiar ki signatures. Trunks was with Goten, it seemed they would be having a sleepover, and Gohan went towards them, wanting to check on his brother.

The sight he came upon was more than humorous. Both of the little boys were sitting on the ground in attempted lotus positions, their eyes closed and faces scrunched in concentration. The concentration broke the moment Goten opened one eye to look at Trunks and spotted Gohan in his periphery vision.

"Gohan!" the little boy cried out and launched himself clear across the room, hitting Gohan like a little missile and latching onto his torso firmly.

"Watch out, Goten. You almost took me down," Gohan laughed, ruggling his brother's hair before letting him down gently. "What were you guys doing?"

"Meditating," Trunks replied, abandoning his position in favour of a more comfortable sprawl.

"Meditating?" Gohan echoed, wondering why on Earth they would be doing something like that.

"Yeah, Mr. Vegeta said that meditation was very important for a warrior," Goten said, nodding his head.

"Dad said that if we want to become good fighters, we need to learn when to shut up and stay out of the way," Trunks supplied and Gohan could only barely control his impulse to laugh. Trunks and Goten weren't bad kids, they just tended to forget themselves when playing and with both of them so powerful already, when things got out of hand, as they inevitably did, a property damage usually followed. So Vegeta's attempt to get them quiet and out of the way was understandable.

"And how's the meditation going?"

"It's boooooooring," Goten complained, Trunks murmuring in agreement. Gohan smiled at the boys.

"Well, it may seem that way to you but meditating can be really useful if you give it a try."

"Really?"

"Really," Gohan confirmed and Trunks and Goten took their places on the floor again, giving the meditation another try. "I'll leave you to that, ok?"

No answer came but Gohan felt their kis stabilizing at a level that was a lot more than he had possessed at their age. Shaking his head in wonder, Gohan turned around, walking to the living room where he wanted to wait for Bulma. A quick check showed her present at the small dome still.

When he entered the room, he noticed it was already occupied. A woman with dark blue hair was leafing through a magazine, not paying attention to her surroundings. Gohan walked over to take a look at her face, curious as to who she was. He was shocked when he saw her. It was Miss Trigger, only her hair was dark blue instead of blond and her expression was softer somehow. She must have felt his stare because she looked up at him. And then the strangest thing happened. She tilted her head to the side, studying his features before she stood up and offered him a hand for greeting.

"You must be Gohan, correct? I'm Lunch, pleased to meet you."

"We have already met," Gohan blurted out at which the woman smiled and shook her head.

"No, we haven't. At least this me haven't met you yet."

"This... you... What do you mean by that?"

But they were interrupted as Bulma entered the room swiftly, carrying some folders and papers with her.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Lunch. Oh, hey Gohan, when did you arrive?"

"A couple of minutes ago."

"So, you met Lunch."

"Yes, about that. Could you explain what's going on?" Gohan asked, one of his hands rubbing the back of his head and Lunch giggled.

"He's doing the same thing as Goku when confused."

"Yeah, it's adorable, really," Bulm replied distractedly as she dropped her cargo on the coffee table. "What in the world possessed me to want to do the reports myself?" she asked herself before she pushed the stack of documents aside firmly. "Those can wait. So, Gohan, how was the video?"

"Not bad, actually. I kinda told the others I was the little kid in it but when I told them they would find out the truth eventually, they didn't pry much. Only," Gohan sighed as he remembered something. "I have to ask Piccolo if we can interview him."

Bulma covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"You're not really that good when it comes to keeping secrets, are you?"

"Well, if someone didn't come up with this program without asking people who would get involved in it, one way or another, for permission," Gohan replied. It was one of his few grievances with Bulma, her tendency to do things on her own without considering the impact it might have on others.

"I had no idea if it would even work and if we would get people to attend it. If it flopped, I would have gotten all of you nervous about it without a reason. Now, I can say it's a success and I'm going to spend the whole day tommorrow making rounds and telling everyone about it."

"Will you drop me off then?" Lunch asked, playing with the cat that had meandered into the room sometime during the conversation.

"I thought Tien would pick you up," Bulma replied. Lunch looked at her with a smile.

"Need I remind you that he's not exactly fond of your husband? Tien tends to ho-achoo!" Lunch sneezed when the cat attempted to climb on her shoulder and tickled her under the nose with its tail. In a blink of an eye, the blond version of her sat on the couch, holding a machine gun and looking pissed off.

"Oh, I hate when this happens. Damn! Damn! Damn!" she tossed the weapon over her shoulder as she ran a hand through her hair. She looked over at Gohan who was gaping at this scene. "Surprise, kid!" she said sarcastically.

"What just happened?" he stammered out, looking over at Bulma who was calmly arranging her notes.

"That is Launch, the other side of the coin, if you will. We have never figured out how it was possible but when she sneezes, she always changes. From blonde to bluenette or vice-versa. The blue one is the nice one-"

"Stupid goody-two-shoes," Launch interrupted which Bulma ignored.

"And the blonde is the more adventurous one."

"Nice way to put it," Launch replied before looking over at Gohan. "You okay, kid? Need a glass of water or something? 'Cause I realize how scary I must be, compared to the pussycat like Cell."

"What?"

"You look scared, kid. Like you think I'm going to attack you or something. I don't bite," she assured him before smirking. "Well, unless you are one person in particular."

"I don't understand," Gohan got out and Launch leaned forward with a devious expression.

"Well, it's like this. When two people like each other, they like to do things together, you see?"

"Launch," Bulma was laughing hard which spoiled the scolding effect she was going for. "Don't corrupt him."

Corrupt? It clicked together in Gohan's mind - biting, things, two people - and he blushed furiously, well aware that both women were now having fun on his expense.

"He's really innocent," Launch commented.

"So was Goku."

"Goku was naive and shameless at the same time. Remember his way of telling men and women apart? Gohan, on the other hand, looks to be a truly innocent soul," Launch commented. "I watched him in the class and he looked completely oblivious to the girls there."

"Shame on you Gohan," Bulma mock-scolded him. "The whole point of high school is to hook up with someone."

That much blood in the face area couldn't be good for anyone, Gohan thought. He guessed it had something to do with the blood pressure. Or something. He couldn't think clear through his embarrassment.

"Could we please stop talking about this?" he pleaded and both women calmed down instantly.

"Sorry, Gohan," Bulma apologized. "But you're really cute when you are blushing and we couldn't resist."

"Yeah, sorry kid."

"It's fine," Gohan mumbled and seized an opportunity to change the subject. "Anyway, you are really different in class. Why?"

Launch rolled her eyes.

"Geeze, kid, think about it. I'm your teacher and there are certain standards I need to conform to. I can't just pull out my gun and threaten you if you don't behave or when you disagree with me. I toe the line because I have to. And when I agreed to do this for Bulma, I went through some lessons on how I should behave. I may do some dodgy things now and then but in that class, I'm gonna be the best teacher you ever had. Until I get bored, that is. You bullet-proof, right?" she laughed at Gohan's expression. "Just kidding."

"Fine, I guess," Gohan said, thinking of another question. "Why wouldn't Tien pick you up from here?"

Launch grinned.

"Because my hubby really hates Bulma's hubby who hates everyone from what I saw."

"C'mon Launch, Vegeta's not that bad," Bulma defended her husband.

"Okay, he hates everyone except for you and your kid."

Before they could digress - Bulma was gearing up to defend Vegeta full-force - Gohan interrupted them.

"You are married to Tien?"

Well, not so much as interrupted as shouted in disbelief. Launch shrugged.

"I chased him all over the world, waited for him when he was dead, waited while he trained for the Androids... Damn, that ring on my finger was the least he could do!"

"But he never said anything!"

Bulma gave a pointed cough.

"First off, they got married after the Cell. Second, you were four before we knew about you. Third, Trunks was half-a-year old before you even knew I was with Vegeta. Gohan, in our group, personal things tend to take the back seat to the disasters we are trying to prevent. You know that."

"Yeah, I guess," Gohan replied, knowing Bulma was right. "I should be going. It's getting late and I have other homework to do."

"Okay, I'll see you tommorrow when I drop off Goten."

"And I'll see you on Monday, kid," Launch raised one hand in goodbye. "I'm looking forward to what your group will have to say."

"Not nearly as much as we could," Gohan said enigmatically and walked out, quite ready to put the whole day behind him.

* * *

><p>The Sunday passed uneventfully in the Son household. Chichi wasn't very happy with Bulma over the Investigative Science but she calmed down after Bulma pointed out that she had as much to lose as Chichi, if not more so. Gohan had wisely made himself scarce for that discussion, taking Goten fishing as an excuse to get out of the house. He had finished his homework the previous evening and was looking forward to a day of relaxation. It wasn't to be.<p>

Late in the afternoon, his communicator beeped and Gohan accepted the call, curious and even slightly excited for an opportunity to do some good.

"This is Saiyaman. Are you in need of my assistance?"

"Yes, yes. Saiyaman, thank gods. We have a problem," the harried voice of the commisioner spoke up. "We don't know what to do."

"What is the problem, sir and how may I be of help?"

"Miss Satan was kidnapped!"

Gohan froze. What? How? Who?

"Excuse me?" he said, trying to keep his voice under control. Videl was his friend or at least on her way to become one.

"She went somewhere today and then Mr. Satan's agent received a call from some person who said they were holding her captive and demanding a ransom of a million zeni if we want her returned unharmed."

"Who is the responsible party?" Gohan asked, mentally reviewing his options. He could try and track Videl by her ki but that would only work if she raised it fighting and since the kidnappers were already demanding payment, it most likely meant they had her restrained somehow and she couldn't fight back. Maybe it had something to do with her errand.

"The man who made the call said his name was Crane Hermit."

Gohan closed his eyes in frustration as all the pieces fell into place. Videl asking about the technique used to fly and him replying with not only the name but also the origins of that technique. Videl had most likely decided to investigate and given the shady dealings that Crane Hermit was involved in, the man jumped at an opportunity to make some easy money. Gohan had never met him face to face but he had the dubious honour of meeting the man's younger brother Tao Pai Pai and if the brothers were anything alike, he had to get Videl away from him as soon as possible.

"I'm going to save Miss Videl, commissioner. The man is known to me and I know how to deal with him."

"Thank you, Saiyaman. Will you need anything from us?"

"No, sir. Thank you for the offer, though."

Ending the call, Gohan looked at Goten who was watching him in awe.

"Listen, Goten. I've got a job to do so run home and tell Mom I will be home by dinner, ok?"

"Are you going to beat up bad guys?"

Gohan nodded and changed into his costume.

"Yes, Goten. I am."

With that, Gohan flew off, locating Tien's ki. He needed to know the location of the Crane Hermit's dojo and Tien was the only person Gohan could think of who would be likely to know. Gohan powered up slightly, his speed having passed the sound barrier shortly after he had taken off. It was his way of announcing himself and when he dropped down in front of a large house nestled deep in the Great Mountains, Tien was already standing outside, looking up. A look of surprise passed over his face when the colourfully garbed Gohan landed before him.

"Gohan? Is that you?"

"Yes, I have no time to chat. I need to know the location of your old dojo. It's urgent. My friend's in trouble," Gohan said very quickly, tapping his foot nervously against the ground.

"Well, the dojo lies on the outskirts of North City but it has been closed down years ago. Only my old Master lives there now."

"That's what I needed to know, thank you!" Gohan took off immediately, leaving the bewildered Tien staring after him.

The North City was sprawled on a large plain and Gohan passed it over quickly, looking for the tell-tale signs of Videl's ki. This close, he should have been able to pick up Videl's ki and he caught its flicker shortly after. She was agitated but seemed unharmed and aside from her anger quite alright. He tracked her down, his senses leading him unerringly towards an old building that must have been a sight to behold in the days of success but was now very rundown and in obvious need of repairs.

There were two strong energy signals coming from inside, both in the main room. Gohan didn't think much over the plan and simply dropped down through the wooden roof, adding to the destruction of the place even more. An old man wearing shades and sporting a goatee looked up from where he was leaning against a pillar.

"Are you here to deliver the money?" he asked rudely.

Gohan straightened up before pointing an accusing finger on the old man.

"The only thing I deliver is justice!" he declared.

"Oh gods," came a groan from the side and Gohan spun around to see Videl tied up against another wooden pillar, seeing as her eyes rolled around and came to the only conclusion he could come up with - she was about to faint.

"Miss Videl! Keep it together! Don't pass out!"

She glared at him, the ropes holding her immobile moving as she attempted to get rid of her restraints.

"I'm not about to faint, you idiot!"

"But you look-"

"Are you ignoring me?" the Crane Hermit asked irrately, staring at the costumed hero.

"You will get your just desserts in a moment, sir," Gohan assured him. "Kidnapping is a crime."

"Well, arrogant little punks like the miss over there coming here and demanding things from me when her stupid father bastardized everything what martial arts stand for is a crime, too and I don't see anyone complaining about him. Everyone just keeps praising the loudmouthed idiot and believing his lies."

"My father's not a liar or an idiot!" Videl shouted but the Crane Hermit shrugged.

"Well, an apple doesn't fall far from a tree so I'm not surprised you're defending him."

Videl only growled and renewed her attempts to free herself.

"What you did was wrong," Gohan said to the old man. "This isn't about Miss Videl's father and his claims. You tried to extort money that do not belong to you through underhanded means and for that you will go to jail."

"As if you could take me," Crane Hermit said and powered up a ki blast. "Dodon Ray!"

Gohan batted the low powered blast easily away and then fazed in front of the man, sending a quick chop to his neck, rendering him unconscious. He then turned to Videl and tore through the ropes holding her captive. She was strangely quiet, looking from Gohan to Crane Hermit and back.

"Are you unharmed, Miss Videl?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she replied, looking down at the unconscious man. "He shot that thing on me, too. It knocked me out and when I woke up, I was tied up," she looked up at him. "How come you deflected it so easily?"

"Well," Gohan rubbed the back of his helmet. "It wasn't that strong, to tell the truth. My litlle br-" he cut himself off before he could incriminate himself. Videl's eyes narrowed but then she let it go.

"You saved me so I'm not asking. This time!" she emphasized and Gohan nodded quickly. Videl punched a combination on her communicator and spoke into it. "North City Police Force? This is Videl Satan. I'd like to ask you to come collect a criminal for a kidnapping and an attempted extortion. Crane Style School of Martial Arts dojo. Thank you."

She put away the communicator, knowing that North City police would inform Satan City about the success. She looked at Gohan again.

"How did you know where to find me?"

"I have my sources," and then, because she had asked first, he asked a question he was curious about. "What were you doing here?"

Videl sighed and looked at her feet. She appeared embarrassed about something.

"I wanted to learn how to fly," she admitted. "I found out there was this technique, Air Dance, and it originated in this dojo so that's where I started asking. I didn't know that the old master would hate my Dad so much or that he would take things so badly," Videl shrugged. "Well, I'll have to keep asking around. I know now that flying is possible and I'm not giving up until I can do it too."

Gohan scanned Videl's ki after her words and tried to comfort her.

"Well, you are definitely strong enough to learn, so you just need to find a teacher."

A calculating gleam entered her eyes.

"What about you, then? Hmm, the Great Saiyaman, the flying superhero. You could teach me."

"I-I... that's not a good idea," Gohan looked desperately around. "I'm not a teacher."

"That doesn't matter. You know what to do and how to do it. I just need some instruction. You can do that much, can't you?"

"Erm," Gohan took a wary step back. He had to refuse because the more time Videl spent with Saiyaman, the easier it would get for her to reveal his true identity. "I don't have time for that."

"Oh, really?" she intoned and stepped closer to him. "And what incredibly important things occupy that time of yours?"

"Nothing!" Gohan said quickly, nerved out by Videl's continued questions. She raised an eyebrow at that.

"You don't have time because you are doing nothing? Why don't I trust you?"

Escape was the only viable option at that point and Gohan opted for the brief reprieve, until he ran into Videl again, that was.

"I gotta go, Miss Videl, I'm glad you are alright. See you sometimes. Bye!"

He flew off again, flashing back to their first meeting when he had reacted the same way. It was clear to him now. He needed help handling Videl otherwise he would work himself into an early grave from stress alone. He glanced back quickly. She didn't follow him outside, hurling questions and insults at him like last time. Gohan took a deep breath and was startled when his communicator beeped.

"This is Saiyaman, I'm listening," he said, thinking it was the commissioner asking about Videl. So he was surprised when a female voice got through.

"You do realize this isn't over, don't you? Once I learn to fly, you'll lose your escape route. So, catch you later, Saiyaman."

The communicator went quiet and Gohan stared at it, realizing that the gauntlet was down. And Videl struck him as a tenacious sort. She wouldn't stop until she unearthed his secrets. Admirable. And scary. But mostly admirable. Well, he would see how long he would be able to dodge her and who would come out victorious in the end. Somehow, Gohan didn't think it would be him.

TBC

**A/N:** Didn't expect that one, did you? Anyway, not much to say this time only see you on Thursday.


	8. Chapter 8

Okay, let's put on the heat, shall we?

* * *

><p>Monday classes seemed almost anti-climactic after the eventful weekend. Videl was lost in thoughts for the majority of the day, looking none the worse for her ordeal the previous day, Erasa was trying to get her out of what the blonde perceived as a slump and Sharpener was the only one oblivious to it all.<p>

"I can't believe we got it," he kept saying over and over at the lunch. The 'it' turned out to be a grant from Firearms Ltd., the largest weapon developer and manufacturer in the world. Given the dubious reputation weapon developers had amongst people, Firearms Ltd. poured millions of zeni every year into various grant programs to improve their standing in public eyes. One of those grants had been given to the Orange Star High School boxing team and Sharpener couldn't stop talking about it.

"I mean, with the money we can buy the best equipment available - new gloves, sandbags, weights. You name it, we can have it. I can't believe we got it! And listen to this, Gohan," Sharpener's grin couldn't get bigger if he tried. "We get to spend a whole week in their testing facility. They've got some of the most advanced equipment on the planet, some of it developed specially for them. Rumours say only Capsule Corporation can rival them when it comes to advanced training machines. And we will be allowed to play around with it all. For a whole week!"

Gohan could only nod to it all, not entirely understanding Sharpener's excitement but happy for his friend nonetheless. This was obviously a big deal to him.

"Sounds like fun," he said after Sharpener listed off, again, all of the things he was planning on doing.

"See? If you had joined up with us like I asked, you could have been going, too. I bet you're regretting it now, huh?"

"Not really," Gohan replied with a smile. "I'm not much of a fighter. I lack the drive, you know. Fighting for the sake of fighting isn't for me."

"Fine, I guess," Sharpener shrugged. "Not everyone's into things like that. We can't all be like Videl."

"She likes fighting that much?"

"Are you kidding? She's a born and bred fighter. She won the Junior Division in WMAT when she was barely ten. And I have seen her fight robbers this one time in the mall. She was taking men twice her size and three times her weight down like they were nothing. She's impressive. And scary, too."

"Don't I know it," Gohan muttered and Sharpener nudged him.

"So, what did you do to earn her wrath?"

"Nothing much, actually," Gohan laughed. "Just refused to answer some questions she had."

Sharpener hissed in sympathy.

"Ouch. How long did you hold up?"

"Honestly? Less than a minute."

"Man, if it was anyone but Videl, I would be so making fun of you right now."

"Gossiping?" Erasa stuck her head between the two of them, making Sharpener jump in his seat.

"Hell, no! And where did you come from?" the blond boxer asked irritably.

"From behind, obviously."

Erasa walked around the table and sat down across from the boys, Videl joining her shortly after, offering only a brief nod to each of those present.

"Anyway, what were the two of you talking about?" Videl asked.

"The grant our team got," Sharpener said and that grin made its way on his face again. "Did I tell you already that we get-"

"-to spend a week in some super modern training facility, I know," Videl finished for him and started eating. "Once was enough, no need to repeat it constantly."

"Spoilsport," Sharpener accused her but there was no heat in his words. There was a silence for some time as each of the four focused on their lunch but Erasa broke the silence soon.

"So, you guys ready for the second lesson?"

Videl and Gohan exchanged glances and it was Gohan who replied.

"Yes, we set up a small presentation and we'll see what Miss Trigger will have to say to that."

"Mhm, us too," Erasa said. "Would you mind if our group went first?"

"Not at all."

Videl had finished her food by then and she was staring down at the table, apparently thinking about something. Then, as if she reached some conclusion, she looked up at Gohan.

"Gohan, I need to ask something quick about that presentation. Are you done?"

Swallowing the last bite, Gohan nodded and stood up. Videl led the way out of the cafeteria, stopping only once they were in the corridor that led to the library. It was deserted at that hour and Videl turned to face Gohan, her whole manner speaking of hesitation.

"Listen, Gohan. I know we promised we wouldn't pry but this is really important to me and I'd like it if you answered me."

"What is it?" Gohan asked even if he had a good idea of what this was about.

"That technique you mentioned, the Air Dance. I want to learn it and I wondered if you could give me a name of someone who could teach it to me? I already tried to find a teacher on my own but it didn't work out that well. So, could you recommend someone?"

"Why do you want to learn to fly?" Gohan asked. It was an useful skill, for sure, but he couldn't see much of an advantage being brought by it to Videl's work. She could move faster between a school and a crime scene but that was all that Gohan could think of.

"I'd rather not say," Videl said, turning away.

"I was just asking," Gohan pointed out. "You don't have to answer."

"Sorry. It's just..." she paused and then sighed. "I'm a real hypocrite, aren't I?"

"What do you mean?"

"When I ask someone a question, I expect them to answer and I don't care how much I have to bully them to get it. But when someone asks me, I clam up and no one's brave enough to press me for an answer."

"It's okay," Gohan tried to say but Videl shook her head.

"No, it's not. I have been thinking a lot recently. I have been thinking so much my head hurts."

"What about?" Gohan realized by now that Videl wanted and maybe even needed to talk about this. Why she would pick him to tell and not Erasa was something he didn't know and for the moment didn't care about.

"My Dad, my abilities, the truth. A little bit of everything. I know what I have seen in that video, Gohan. Those tricks are real. There are no mirrors and smoke machines, no hinged doors and hidden ropes. People can fly without copters. People can shoot some kind of... energy beams, I guess, from their bare hands. It's possible and I want to learn it all."

"Why?"

"Because I know I haven't reached my limits yet. I can feel it, Gohan. I can do so much more that it frustrates me to no end I'm unable to do it. That's why I need a teacher. Will you help me with that?"

"I can try," Gohan promised. Videl was genuine in her desire to learn, he could see that much. And anyone that motivated should be allowed to learn. "Any preferences as to the style?"

"Something suited to my abilities, I guess. Focusing on speed, mostly. Maybe some legwork."

"That could be taught by anyone I know. We are all pretty fast."

"Even you?"

He had walked right into that one but Gohan wasn't angry. He was amused and curious. His self-censor failed around Videl for some reason and he should really find out why.

"Even me. But I can't teach you," he hurried to say. "Too much schoolwork and me and fighting, well..."

"You're not interested in it. You are trained but you don't have an interest in it."

"How do you know?"

"I pay attention, Gohan," Videl rolled her eyes. "In that first lesson, when Miss Trigger asked if we had had practice or interest in martial arts, you said you weren't interested. And an unenthusiastic teacher is worse than no teacher at all."

"Yeah, I guess," Gohan rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. "I'll ask around, see which of the guys would be willing to take on a student, okay? But, if you could-"

"-keep this quiet, I know. I will. I'm not exactly eager to have Erasa pester me for answers. She can be worse than me sometimes," Videl said with a serious face. Gohan stared at her.

"You are joking, right?"

"I'm afraid not. Don't let that nice behaviour fool you. Give her a hint to something big and she's like a bloodhound on a trail. Won't stop until she has all of the answers."

"Wow, I didn't know that."

"Well, consider yourself warned."

A bell rang, signalling the end of the lunch and Videl hoisted her bag higher on her shoulder.

"I'll see you in Investigative Science."

"Yeah. See you."

* * *

><p>The rest of the day passed quickly and very soon, Gohan was standing in front of the classroom D30. Kopeer and Paper just rounded the corner and Gohan waited for them.<p>

"So, ready for the presentation?" Kopeer asked. "No nerves?"

"Should I be nervous?" Gohan asked as they walked into the classroom together.

"Nah, I guess not. Just trying to get on your nerves. No offence."

"None taken," Gohan replied, seeing everyone else, including Videl and Erasa already present. Erasa was talking to a girl from her group, a dark-skinned brunette whose name was Clippa. The other two boys, Ruler and Binder sat silent. Once everyone took their places, the door opened again and Miss Trigger - Launch - walked in, once again dressed in a suit.

"So, all of you came back. Good. Who wants to start?"

No one seemed to notice she was more brisk than a week ago, though Gohan tried to surreptitiously check if she had a gun on her. Launch caught his gaze and smirked, mouthing 'Bang', her grin widening before she turned to Erasa who had already been fiddling with the projector.

"Okay, so we were given the task of finding out if the 'tricks' that, for example, the guys at the Cell Games or some of the contestants in the older tournaments used, are really tricks or some kind of a martial arts technique. So, first of all," Erasa clicked the laser pointer and a slide with a large word TRICK written on it appeared. "What is a trick? Something that can be explained. Card tricks, magician's tricks, all of those are easy to do if you know how. So, flying? The easiest explanation is that people who appear to be flying are wearing some kind of jetpack and-"

"Miss San," Launch interrupted. "It's interesting but you were supposed to find some sources, not talk about the nature of tricks."

"I'm getting to it, I promise."

Launch nodded and another picture appeared, making Gohan wince. He should have known. After all, the most famous 'tricksters' in the world were the Z-warriors. And their most broadcast appearance was the Cell Games. On the projector screen, a still shot from the beginning of the Games was displayed, the nine warriors - Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Trunks, Piccolo, Tien, Yamcha, Krillin and Android 16 - stood, facing the camera. There was a gasp from beside Gohan and he turned his head to see Videl staring at the screen in disbelief.

"That's the short guy! He survived?" she turned to Gohan accusingly. He didn't know how to answer that. He didn't expect that she would recognize Vegeta immediately. Kopeer and Paper were looking at the group on screen with suspicion as well but they had yet to conect the dots.

"Miss Satan!" Launch's voice snapped. "Don't interrupt the presentation. We will discuss it afterwards but until then, you will keep silent. Am I clear?"

Videl nodded sullenly and while Erasa launched into an explanation of how it was clearly visible that the people in the picture were wearing no jetpacks, she scribbled a note and passed it to Gohan.

_Do you know what's going on?_

Gohan passed the note back after writing a reply.

_Yes, but I can't say. Sorry._

Videl huffed but sent the note back.

_Are we going to find out?_

Gohan managed to write down _Most likely yes but_ when Kopeer snatched the note, looked it over and added to it, passing it back.

_No buts, man. I recognize most of those guys now. This is big. Are you a part of some giant conspiracy or something? Huh?_

Gohan looked down then at Kopeer's expectant face.

_Conspiracy isn't the right word. A protection of privacy fits more._

Videl snorted as she read the last line. Before she could add her own thoughts on the matter, though, a quiet cough interrupted them. Launch was standing over them and she reached an expectant hand towards Gohan. Looking at Videl and Kopeer, he shrugged helplessly and handed the note over. Launch read it over, grinned and then scrunched it up before tossing it into a bin, clear across the room.

"It's a conspiracy, Mr. Hewlett. Didn't you know all of these classes are sponsored by Bulma Briefs herself? She wants to brainwash you all into being her obedient servants once she takes over the world. And I'm going to be her second-in-command. What do you say to that?"

Kopeer looked thoughtful for a moment before he grinned back.

"Where is your proof?"

Launch smirked and walked back to her desk.

"Excellent understanding of the whole point of this course. As to the matter of the identity of certain people who will be making more frequent appearances the deeper you will get, you will know in good time. Now, you have missed most of the presentation of the other group, with the exception of Mr. Sand so if you could summarize for your group mates?"

Paper nodded and turned to face the other three.

"Basically, Erasa proved that the people in the picture had no visible mechanical means of transport on them, be it jetpacks, rocket boots or mini rotors so she concluded that they are most likely using a technique of some kind. This as yet unknown technique has been mentioned in connection with WMATs in the past and their group will be leading their research in this direction, mostly trying to get firsthand accounts from the workers on Papaya Island."

"Good. Your presentation?"

Videl stood up and pulled out a large binder which she opened and revealed a large number of various magazines and newspapers.

"We started by looking at both the more sensational of the media and at the more serious ones. The best example of the sensational media reporting is this one."

She passed forth the copies of an article from the magazine that Gohan had read in the library, the one about Bulma and her alien husband. Launch looked it over and chuckled.

"I remember this one. Bulma sued them for libel, citing that if she was ever to marry an alien, she would want him to be at the very least a prince of his race, not some lowly researcher. The story burned out quickly after that."

Gohan didn't know whether to laugh or to bang his head against the desktop. Realizing that hitting his head hard against the desk would only result in breaking the said desk, he settled for sighing and leaning back in his chair, hoping for the lesson to be over soon.

"Well," Videl started running the presentation. "You can see for yourself that most of the stories in this type of magazine cannot be trusted much. They lack verification and are often nothing but a bunch of malicious rumours that hope to draw in readers. Now, this," she displayed an old front page with a picture of two round things in the middle, "This is a highly respected paper which can be relied on to report truthfully and without sensation. This picture is eleven years old and believe it or not, an alien attack happened back then. These round things are confirmed to be the ships of the aliens who had arrived that day and attacked the planet before being stopped by so called Z-Warriors. This story is true because more than ten separate sources informed about the events that had passed and they matched each other in majority of details. That's why-"

A beeping sound interrupted her speech. Launch pulled out her mobile phone and was frowning on the screen. She pressed several buttons and then swore quietly.

"Okay. I just got an urgent message. Sit back down, Miss Satan, please."

Turning away from the class, she switched on the TV on her desk. An emergency news program was on, the reporter standing in front of a destroyed building.

"-peating again. I'm standing in front of the Papaya High School where a large explosion just less than an hour ago claimed five lives, leaving sixteen others in a critical condition. The victims have been attending an extracurriculal activity, a special course titled Investigative Science. It has been confirmed that one of the dead is the teacher of this course, Mr. Noah Commens, a nephew to Mr. Tater Commens, a well-known figure related to the World Martial Arts Tournament. It is unknown so far what was the reason behind the explosion. Theories range from a gas leak to a terrorrist attack. The official places declined any comments, citing only that an investigation was underway. We will bring you more in the evening news. From Papaya Island, Monique-"

Launch turned off the news and looked at the class.

"We are done for today. We'll discuss your findings next week, until then, continue with your research as you have until now. You can go."

She walked out, already dialing some number while the eight people left in the class looked at each other helplessly. It was clear they had no idea what to think and for the first time in this course, Gohan felt exactly the same. But he knew one thing - whatever had just happened wasn't good. Not good at all.

TBC

**A/N:** Say hello to the main plot, ok?


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry for a late update and for not replying to any of your reviews recently. Things have been a bit hectic recently. I was finishing my bachelor thesis and after working on it for hours at time, I had no energy or even will to write any more. Be assured that I love every single review and thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment.

Just a note, though. Mr. Satan is definitely NOT the villain in here. And neither are some unknown aliens or the ever popular villain Crane Master. As for who it is, well, all in good time. I will do my best to return to the Monday/Thursday updating schedule after Easter, but I might be a couple of days late on occasion. Any writing pauses will be announced on my profile. I have also another account on ff dot net with mainly Fairy Tail fics and some of them are in a desperate need of an update, so I need to devote some time to those as well. Anyway, enough of that and enjoy this chapter.

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><p>The eight students in the Investigative Science class exchanged confused glances.<p>

"You think we should go?" Clippa asked uncertainly. Erasa looked over at Videl and shook her head.

"Not yet. Videl, do you think you could call the police and ask if they have some news on the explosion?"

"I doubt it," Videl replied but pulled out her communicator anyway. "But I can ask."

"Isn't that illegal?" Gohan asked, not wanting to be seen as too eager to leave but he wanted to know what was going on and he had better chances of finding out on his own.

"Not really. Now shh!" Videl chastised once the connection was established. "Commissioner? Do you have any information on the explosion on Papaya Island?"

"I'm sorry, Videl but we only know what's on the news. It is a local problem so far, falling under the local jurisdiction."

"I understand," Videl ended the call and looked at her classmates. "See? Nothing. I'm going home."

She picked up her bag and waved to the others. When she reached the door, she almost collided with Launch who was just coming back.

"What are you kids still doing here?" their blond teacher asked. "Get out, I need to lock the room!"

The class quickly emptied out, with only the most basic goodbyes being exchanged. Gohan made sure to be leaving last because he wanted to know more and he could guess from Launch's manner that she knew something.

"Gohan, you wait a moment," she told him while she turned off the projector. "We're going to Papaya Island."

"Why?"

"Because I called Bulma and she's already on her way there and there's something fishy about all of this and I, for one, want to know what the hell's going on."

"Something fishy?" Gohan asked and Launch huffed in impatience.

"Yes. The preliminary search of the building showed no remains of any explosives. Bulma got her own people looking but she thinks they won't find anything."

"Maybe it was a gas leak like they said," Gohan didn't really believe it but he wanted to exhaust every possibility.

"And maybe I'm just a really nice person deep inside," Launch returned sarcastically, walking out of the class and locking it. She then looked right at Gohan. "All of Papaya's buildings are powered by solar panels. There are no gas lines there. Now come on, we're losing valuable time."

She led him to the roof where she looked him up and down, tapping her foot against the concrete as she thought.

"Hmm, piggy-back ride, I think."

"What?"

"Papaya Island is half-way around the world. A plane or a copter would take several hours to reach there. You, on the other hand, can be there in ten minutes and you're going to carry me. And I don't think you'd be comfortable holding me in your arms, am I right?" she raised a questioning eyebrow at him and Gohan blushed involuntarily. Launch laughed. "Just as I thought. C'mon, kid, let's go."

Gohan crouched down while Launch crawled on his back, holding on tightly around his neck. He could almost imagine her smirk as she tapped her heels against his sides.

"How does it go? Oh yeah. Giddy up!"

Gohan rolled his eyes but he launched into the air, quickly reaching an altitude that was still bearable for an ordinary human. His ki was acting as a shield against the wind and he turned his head to his passenger.

"Which way now?" he asked.

"South-east. I'll tell you more when we get closer."

* * *

><p>It took them close to twenty minutes to arrive at Papaya Island, mainly due to the fact they were searching for it for the better part of that time until Gohan sensed Vegeta close by and used his energy signature as a navigational beacon. He landed in an alleyway several streets down from the site of the ruined building and they quickly made their way towards the commotion. They easily spotted Bulma a short distance behind the police tape. She was standing to the side and talking on her mobile phone, occasionally turning to talk to Vegeta who was leaning against a nearby tree and watching it all disinterestedly. He said something back to her and Bulma called over a nearby cop.<p>

There was a sizeable crowd gathered behind the tape, all watching curiously the happenings in what was left of the school building. The police were keeping all of the onlookers out, firmly but politely refusing entry to everyone. At least until Launch pushed her way through the crowd and spoke to one of the policemen, Gohan trailing behind her. The cop checked in with someone on his radio and then nodded, lifting the tape and letting Launch and Gohan pass.

"Good, you made it," Bulma said as she finally ended her call. "Gohan, can you keep Vegeta company while I talk to my team? Thanks. Come with me, Launch."

The two women left and Gohan turned to Vegeta.

"Hey, Vegeta. How are you?"

"You are still neglecting your training," the Saiyan Prince said in reply, ignoring the question completely. Gohan sighed. They had been through the same conversation several times already.

"Listen, Vegeta. I don't like fighting, I told you that."

"You are a Saiyan. It's in your blood."

"I'm also a human," Gohan emphasised. Vegeta snorted before looking away.

"Have it your way, then."

There was a tense silence between the two of them and Gohan focused his eyes on the people swarming around the ruined school building. The bodies had been taken away a long time ago and the crews were clearing out the rubble. People with Capsule Corporation insignia on their jackets were walking around, gathering various things, taking notes, talking on walkie-talkies, occasionally lifting some of the debris and looking very busy in general.

After half-an-hour, Bulma and Launch came back, Bulma's face full of apprehension. She was clutching a handful of paper sheets and Gohan could see her knuckles turning white from the pressure.

"I have the preliminary search results. No traces of any known explosives have been found. No solid or liquid remains and the air scans are coming clean too."

"What about your team? What did they find?" Gohan asked.

"This is what my team have found," Bulma said, frowning heavily. "There is nothing there. So either a new type of explosives was used, one that leaves no trace upon detonating or-" she trailed off and Gohan understood.

"-or no explosives were used and someone blew the building up with a ki blast," he finished. Bulma rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"That's the most likely explanation, yes. So now we have to start searching for the perpetrator amongst the ki users."

"C'mon, Bulma, it's ridiculous. None of the guys would do a thing like that."

The very thought was absurd to Gohan. The Z-Warriors dedicated their lives to protecting the planet and its inhabitants. It was preposterous to think that either of them would attack a class full of teenagers. Vegeta's condescending huff caught Gohan's attention.

"Is your brain used only to store useless knowledge?" the Prince asked sarcastically. "Why would you think that you and your 'friends' are the only ones on the planet capable of using ki?"

"What?"

"Vegeta's right," Bulma said. "You guys are no doubt the strongest ki users but you're not the only ones. There are several martial arts schools that still teach energy attacks. They keep low profile, due to Satan's fame but they are there. Of course, I would never think there would be anyone powerful enough to do this much damage but I guess I was wrong. Excuse me," she stepped away a bit to answer her ringing phone. Gohan watched as her face got even darker and when she ended the call, she literally stomped back to them.

"What now?" Launch asked, having been quiet up til then.

"Mr. Tomy is coming," Bulma replied and Launch grimaced.

"Yuck. He's the last person we need here."

"Given the United Governements' involvement in the project it was just a matter of time before he came," Bulma said, trying to act calm before giving up. "Oh gods, I hate that smug bastard," she exclaimed. Vegeta smirked and Gohan was just confused.

"Who's Mr. Tomy?"

"The worst kind of an idiot. One with a lot of power," Vegeta replied.

"He's an United Governments, what was the word? Ah, plenipotentiary for special affairs," Launch supplied. "When this project got underway, he was appointed as a liaison between Bulma and the UG. He is the governmental watchdog basically. One who thinks this all is a waste of time."

"Oh. Is he that bad?" Gohan asked.

"Worse. His copter is just landing so you can see for yourself."

The large black copter could be seen over the palm tops before it dipped down and out of sight. A couple of minutes later, a small entourage of suits wearing men came from the direction where it had landed. They passed through the tape easily after the man in the lead flashed some identification card at the cops. The man must have been Mr. Tomy, Gohan realized immediately. He was in his early thirties, of an average height and quite slim, far from the overweight executive that Gohan had imagined. He came to a stop in front of their group and flashed them an insincere smile.

"Mrs. Briefs. Nice to see you again. And your 'alien' husband, too, of course," he added, inclining his head briefly in Vegeta's direction, the gesture coming out very impolite, due to the tone of his voice. "Miss Trigger, if I remember correctly. You teach the course in Satan City, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do."

Mr. Tomy nodded to himself and then looked at Gohan.

"And you would be-"

"Gohan Son," Gohan introduced himself, wondering if the instant dislike he felt for the man stemmed from what the others had said about him or from some deeper instinct.

"Ah, Gohan Son. The true defeater of Cell. You seem to have grown up since then. Such a small boy you were and yet so powerful. Of course, you have alien genes in you, so it's not surprising," the man smiled again and stuck out his right hand. "I'm Richard Tomy, the United Governments' plenipotentiary for special affairs. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure's mine, sir," Gohan replied as he had been taught and shook the man's hand, resisting an urge to wipe his hand against his pants afterwards. Mr. Tomy dropped his hand and looked over at Bulma.

"So, what are the results of a search?"

"We have concluded that either a new type of explosives has been used or it was a ki blast."

"Tsk, tsk," the man tutted. "Seems like one of your superpowered friends wasn't very happy about the revealing nature of this project."

"Now, wait just a moment," Bulma stood up straight. "I can vouch for all of the Z-Warriors. Neither of them-"

"You can vouch for them?" Mr. Tomy interrupted. "With their history of violence? Please, Mrs. Briefs, let's be practical. You have a bunch of acquaintances, all of whom are walking weapons of mass destruction. And you decide, on your own, that you will spill their secrets to the eager youths. It's only natural they would protect themselves. Unfortunately, with the deaths involved, all of this needs to be investigated carefully and it would be in everyone's best interests if this project got postponed while the investigation is underway."

"No way in hell!" Bulma spit out. "There is no proof that Z-Warriors are involved and they all have given permission for the course to proceed, anyway. You won't pull the plug on this just because you are a paranoid jackass with xenophobic tendencies."

"Watch your tone, Mrs. Briefs," Mr. Tomy warned but Bulma snorted and crossed her arms, imitating her husband unconsciously. Gohan was startled out of his anxious observation of the spat when Launch touched his arm.

"You better head home kiddo. This will take some time."

"But-" Gohan tried to protest, thinking he might be of use but Launch shook her head firmly.

"This isn't the first time they butted heads and it won't be the last. Go on home, get some sleep and be ready for the school tommorrow," Launch paused and then laughed awkwardly. "Damn, I sounded so responsible there. Get out before I ruin my reputation even more."

"Okay. I'll see you next Monday, I guess. Tell Bulma hi for me."

"Sure thing, kid. Now go."

Gohan walked away from the escalating argument, hoping against hope that it was truly a regular thing and that Bulma Briefs charged with a murder of a government official wouldn't be the highlight of the evening news. Who was he kidding? Between Vegeta, Launch and Bulma herself, they would easily hide the body and any evidence pointing to them.

Smiling to himself, Gohan launched into the air as soon as he was out of sight and he headed north to Mt. Paozu. He was sure that Bulma would keep him updated on the case but maybe Saiyaman could take an interest in it, as well. It was a thought worth considering.

TBC

**A/N:** Just to get back into the swing of things. Next update will be on Monday, most likely. I still need to tie up some things regarding my thesis. And I'm kinda in the middle of watching Supernatural, so yeah. Season six ahoy! Anyone fan of that? Or what about BBC's Sherlock? Great series. See ya.


	10. Chapter 10

We've reached 100 reviews which is absolutely great. Only two of my other stories ever passed the three-digit mark and one of them doesn't count because it was a collection of oneshots and not a proper multi-chapter like _Tricks_ or _Magnetism_. So thank you very much for taking the time to leave a comment. It's very much appreciated.

This chapter is more geared towards character development and interaction. I can't believe I have neglected Chichi for so long.

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><p>The mysterious explosion on Papaya Island was the main topic of discussion the following day before the lessons started. Since most of the victims (the number of dead had raised to seven, two of the students passing away during the night due to their grave injuries) were their age, the students of Orange Star High School felt a certain sense of connection to them. They were enraged but also shocked that something like that had happened. There was a leak from the investigation team that had confirmed that the explosion was a terrorist attack by as yet unknown perpetrators and Gohan's class buzzed with the news.<p>

"What I don't understand is how they pulled it off," Erasa said, playing with a pen. "I mean, the explosion demolished the whole wing where the classroom was. That would take a lot of explosives to do. Where did they get those?"

"You know as much as the rest of us," Sharpener remarked. "Which is close to nothing."

Gohan kept quiet. He might have known the truth about the 'explosives' used but as far as the identity of the guilty party, he was as much in the dark as everyone else. He knew Bulma had asked Krillin, Master Roshi, Tien, Chiaotzu and Yamcha to make inquiries among the ki users but it was going to take some time. Gohan had been shocked at his own ignorance when he had found out just how many martial arts schools still used ki practices. He had really thought he and his group of friends were the only ones.

"You have been really quiet, Gohan," Erasa noticed and Gohan mustered a weak smile.

"I'm trying to think of who could have done such a thing and why. It doesn't make sense."

"Criminals rarely do things that make sense," Videl commented and looked up from her drawing of what looked like some kind of a diagram, as far as Gohan could see. "And terrorists are just trying to cause as much pain and suffering as possible. They might have targeted Papaya High School just because it was on an island. Or because it was close to their base of operations. Or far from it. Or they didn't have any reason at all."

"So what now? Anyone anywhere can be attacked?" Erasa asked.

"Most likely. As long as the attackers remain anonymous and don't reveal their goals, police have no way to anticipate their actions."

"Kind of wish I had superpowers like Saiyaman," Sharpener quipped and Videl sat up straighter.

"That's it!" she exclaimed. "He can help out with this!"

She pulled out her communicator and Gohan realized just in nick of time what she was about to do and turned off his own communicator, now built into his watch. Videl frowned at the device.

"He's not answering. I wonder why?"

"Maybe he's busy," Erasa suggested. "You know, saving people and stuff."

"Hmm," Videl put away the communicator but the frown remained on her face. "He better be."

Gohan let out a relieved breath. With the Monday events overshadowing the rest, he had forgotten his encounter with Videl in the Crane Style dojo. Though his reaction back then still didn't make any sense to him. He was physically superior to Videl - taller, stronger, faster, he could fly and yet she could still mentally break him to pieces with a single glare. Maybe it was a female thing, Gohan realized. After all, all of those things had applied to his mother as well and she was well capable of controlling his father with a single look. Still, none of the other females he knew was able to make him feel like that. Then again, none of them was a fighter.

Gohan looked at Videl out of the corner of his eye. She was chewing on her pencil, scribbling down words on a piece of paper. That was it. Videl, even without any ki training, was unconsciously using her energy to radiate a killing intent, strong enough to influence even him. Gohan was impressed. With proper training, Videl would be a force to reckon with. Maybe he should hurry up and find her a teacher.

* * *

><p>"Videl, can I talk to you for a moment?"<p>

"Sure, Gohan. What's up?"

"I was thinking about your request to find you a teacher," Gohan started, both of them walking down the hall. They had a free period coming up so there was enough time to discuss everything. "You said that any style focusing on speed and legwork is fine. The guys I know are all using their own styles but most of those styles can be traced back to Master Mutaito's School."

"I know that name," Videl frowned thoughtfully.

"He was the one who ended Demon Kings' Piccolo first reign, three hundred years ago," Gohan supplied. "He had two students who both set up their own schools. The Crane School and the Turtle School."

"Wait a moment," Videl said, holding up a hand. "The Crane Hermit comes from one of those schools?"

"He founded the school," Gohan replied and Videl shook her head.

"It can't be. You just said it happened three hundred years ago."

"Do you believe in the myth about the fountain of youth?" Gohan asked and watched as Videl's face lit up in realization.

"You can't be serious!" she exclaimed. "It's real?"

"Very much so. Both Crane Hermit and Turtle Hermit, or Master Muten Roshi, are that old. They have always been rivals, too. But anyway, my Dad, his best friend Krillin and Yamcha all trained with the Turtle Hermit. Tien and Chiaotzu were students of Crane Hermit until they split from him over their differences in martial arts philosophy."

"Good for them," Videl muttered and Gohan grinned.

"Yeah, I guess so. So, I don't know about Yamcha, he has talked about retiring from fighting completely last time I saw him, but I think Krillin, Tien or Chiaotzu would be willing to take you on as a student. Krillin would probably be the best choice. He's living with Master Roshi still, he has in fact become the true successor to his style, so you could benefit from both of their knowledge. Besides, Krillin is physically close to you, on the short side..." Gohan trailed off at the poisonous look Videl threw his way.

"Yes, I'm short," Videl clipped her words. "There is no need to point it out constantly."

"Sorry," Gohan apologized, though he didn't understand why she was angry about it.

"So you think Krillin is the best choice of a teacher?" she asked and Gohan nodded.

"Yes, I think so."

"And what about Tien and Chiaotzu?"

"Well, from what I could see, the Crane style is more aggressive and, well, reckless. There are several techniques that could be dangerous to the user's health."

"Sounds good," Videl quipped and Gohan remembered that this was the girl who had gone looking for an old martial arts master because she wanted to learn how to fly. Krillin's style might have been more suitable for Videl physically but mentally she was actually better suited for Tien's tutoring. Tien had a temper of his own, something which Videl possessed in abundance. Maybe Tien could teach her basics and then Krillin could take over to fine tune her abilities? That was an option, too.

"On second thought, I think Tien would be a better teacher for you, at least in the beginning. After all, you can only profit from learning more styles. It makes you more unpredictable in fight."

"So which one is it going to be?" Videl asked and cocked her head to the side quizically.

"I'll give a call to Tien and see if he's willing to take on a student. I'll let you know."

"Okay. And Gohan, I might not have said it before, but thank you," she smiled at him and Gohan smiled back automatically, once again becoming aware of how pretty Videl actually was when she smiled.

"You are welcome."

* * *

><p>The dinner at the Son house that evening passed as usual at first. Goten was shoveling in his food at incredible speeds while still being able to talk Gohan's ear off by telling him all about his adventures during the day before demanding to know about Gohan's day. He pouted when he heard that his big brother had nothing exciting to share with him at which point Chichi interjected with a comment of her own.<p>

"Well, I'm glad that you had a boring day at school. I know I can't stop you from helping people and I don't want to, either, but your studies are important as well."

"I know, Mom," Gohan answered with a mouthful of food which he swallowed hastily at Chichi's glare. "I asked the Commissioner to only call me during the school time in a case of emergency."

"Good," Chichi said and a brief silence followed before Goten spoke up again.

"Gohan?"

"What is it?"

"Trunks said his Dad is stronger than you. Is that true? I thought you were the strongest."

Big brown eyes stared questioningly at Gohan and for the first time in years Gohan felt a flicker of shame for neglecting his training so much. It was clear his younger brother saw him as a hero and he was about to disappoint him.

"I'm sorry Goten but Trunks was right. At the moment, Vegeta is stronger than me."

"But why?" Goten insisted.

"Because I don't train anymore."

"But-" Goten was about to ask more but Chichi stepped in.

"That's enough, Goten, stop pestering Gohan. Finish your dinner, go wash up and change into your pajamas," she ordered sternly but then her tone softened and she added. "I'll tell you a goodnight story about your Daddy, okay?"

Goten whooped, gobbled down the last food on his plate, jumped out of his seat and hugged Chichi tightly before speeding out of the kitchen and towards his room. Chichi shook her head with a laugh.

"So much like Goku," she commented before she stood up and started gathering the bowls and plates from the table. Gohan quickly swallowed his last bite and stood up to help.

"Thank you, Gohan," Chichi said. They fell into their usual routine of Chichi washing the dishes while Gohan dried them and stacked them away. It was comfortable and familiar, the mother and the son working together like that. It was Chichi who broke the silence this time.

"You know that I'm not forbidding you to train entirely, don't you?"

"Mom? I don't understand."

"Gohan, I know that when you were younger I often forced you to study instead of letting you train with your father. But it wasn't because I wanted you to be unhappy. Quite the opposite."

"Mom," Gohan laid down the towel and reached over to take his mother's hand into his. "I know. I don't train anymore because I don't want to, not because I think you would forbid me to do so. It's just... I have had enough fighting to last me at least two lifetimes. I don't have that drive to improve like Dad or Vegeta. Besides," he added in an effort to lighten the mood. "If I really wanted to train, you wouldn't be able to stop me."

Chichi laughed at that.

"So true. All those times you sneaked out to see Piccolo or Goku taking you away for a 'fishing trip'," she made inverted commas with her fingers. "And you both came back with new bruises because 'you had tripped'. I saw right through you, though."

"That you did," Gohan laughingly agreed.

"But Gohan," Chichi got serious again. "Are you completely adverse to training in any form?"

"Why do you ask?"

"It's Goten. He is his father's son through and through and he loves fighting. I have been teaching him basics but he's getting too strong for me. And I can't teach him everything he should know, either. I never learned how to fly, for one."

"So you want me to take over his training?" Gohan asked. The thought of training Goten wasn't that awful. It would be a way to spend more time with his little brother.

"Yes. I know that Vegeta has been teaching him a bit, too, when Goten's over at Trunks' place but it's not a consistent teaching and besides, Goten should learn his father's style."

"And you don't like Vegeta, either," Gohan added teasingly but Chichi surprised him by shaking her head.

"Honestly? I never thought I would say this but he's not so bad."

"Are you feeling okay, Mom?"

Chichi slapped Gohan's arm with a wet dishrag.

"You like the man. So does Goten. Trunks idolizes him. And Bulma's head over heels in love with him. He can't be that awful if he has so many people fond of him. I guess there's something about him that I'll never get but it's enough to know it's there. Enough to trust him with Goten."

"But not Goten's training."

"No, not with that," Chichi sighed. "Call me old-fashioned but martial arts should be passed in the family if the family's there. Goten has you to teach him, so will you?"

"Of course, Mom. You didn't even have to ask."

"Good."

She turned back to the diminishing pile of dishes while Gohan started to think over how his training of Goten should start. Probably a spar to see where Goten stood and what needed to be worked on. But thinking about training reminded him of his promise to Videl.

"I'm going to call Tien after dinner. Do we have his number?"

"I think so," Chichi replied, thinking over it a bit. "Bulma gave me numbers of all of the Z-Warriors the last time she was here. Why?"

"One of my friends wants to learn more martial arts and I told her I would ask Tien if he would be willing to take her on as a student."

"Her?"

Gohan completely missed the intrigued tone in Chichi's voice and replied guilelessly.

"Yes. Her name is Videl Satan. She's Mr. Satan's daughter but she's okay," he added hurriedly. "She accepts the existence of ki and wants to learn how to use it."

"Videl Satan," Chichi repeated slowly. "You mentioned her before. She is some sort of a crimefighter, isn't she?"

"Yes, she's very eager to help people."

"Hmm. And she's a martial artist. Is she any good?"

"Yes, especially given that she has no proper ki training."

"Is she pretty?" Chichi fired off, eagerly watching Gohan's face.

"I guess so. She would be prettier if she smiled more often, though," Gohan added, thinking over his own observation on the matter and not noticing Chichi's gleeful face.

"Well, I'm glad that you are getting friendly with your classmates," Chichi said, closing the discussion for the moment. "I'll finish here, you go call Tien."

"All right, Mom," Gohan said and put away the last plate he was drying. "I'm going to do my homework after that."

"Good boy," Chichi said with a smile. "Now shoo and let me finish."

Gohan grinned and left his mother to work in peace. He had other matters to take care of but for once he felt like things were going in the right direction.

TBC

**A/N:** Okay, see you after Easter. If you celebrate that, enjoy. Until then.


	11. Chapter 11

Superstitions are such a wonderful thing, aren't they? Let's hope that updating on Friday the 13th doesn't bring me bad luck *grins*

* * *

><p>Reflecting on the event later on, Gohan realized he should have suspected something like that would happen.<p>

"Punch me as hard as you can," he had said to his seven-year old brother and Goten had obliged him, thinking it awesome that his big brother was going to train him.

The punch into his stomach sent Gohan flying backwards, his breath escaping in a whoosh. His reflexes still served him well, though, and he was able to stop and brace himself almost immediately. Goten was upon him the next second, somewhat scared by what had happened.

"Are you okay, Gohan? I didn't mean to hurt you!"

Gohan straightened up and took a deep breath, ruffling his brother's hair playfully to calm him down.

"It's okay, Goten. You are much stronger than I thought and I didn't prepare for that punch properly. I'm not hurt."

Goten nodded and then tilted his head up to gaze at Gohan inquisitively.

"I'm really that strong?" he asked innocently. Gohan nodded and Goten continued, "But Trunks always beats me when we spar for fun."

"Well, Trunks is older than you," Gohan explained, concealing his shock at what he had heard. He had expected both Goten and Trunks to be much stronger than he himself had been at that age, he had felt their ki levels, after all, but seeing for himself just how far they both had progressed was still surprising. "It's natural he would be further in his training. I'm sure you'll catch up to him soon, now that I'm training you properly."

"Then let's start, Gohan," Goten almost vibrated with excitement. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon."

"Okay," Gohan laughed at his enthusiasm. "Try and punch me again."

"Like with Trunks?"

"Yes," Gohan nodded. "Just like with Trunks."

The small fist was just as fast as the first time but Gohan expected it this time and caught it. Not to be deterred, Goten sent another punch which Gohan blocked easily. It was a matter of moments before they settled into a routine of Goten attacking and Gohan blocking his attempts. They were moving all around the clearing but so far, only their arms were used for the fighting. Goten was strong, Gohan acknowledged, but he lacked experience. His form was still raw, but the Turtle style was clearly recognizable in his movements. His attack pattern never varied and Gohan was easily able to predict the next move. He let his body take over while his mind already came up with various exercises to improve Goten's style. Sparring with opponents of different sizes was a step in right direction.

There was a growl of frustration which startled Gohan from his musings. Goten was getting angry and becoming more reckless, his hits having more power behind them as the little boy poured his ki into his attacks unconsciously. His speed increased perceptibly and Gohan had to focus more on fending him off.

"Why... can't... I... hit... you?" Goten got out in between his punches, a visible aura gathering around him. He kicked out then, his momentum carrying him past Gohan who dodged the wild swing. Goten turned around quickly and laid a flurry of attacks on Gohan, using all of his limbs to try and hit his brother's torso and not just his arms or legs. Seeing Goten abandon all style and just lash out blindly, Gohan ducked under his younger brother's flailing arms and seized him around the torso, twisting him around so that his arms and legs couldn't hit Gohan anymore. Holding onto the struggling boy was difficult but Gohan managed and shortly after, Goten realized the futility of trying to escape and stopped his attempts.

"First lesson, Goten," Gohan spoke up, still keeping his grip on the boy. "Don't give into your anger and frustration. Let them aid you but don't let them take over. Angry people make mistakes which their opponent can take advantage of, do you understand?"

Goten nodded sullenly and Gohan let him go. The young boy twisted around and glared at his brother.

"No fair! You are bigger than me!" he accused and Gohan grinned.

"A lot of people are bigger than you right now. Don't let that stop you. Make your size into your advantage."

"How?"

"It's harder to hit things that are smaller than you. I should know," Gohan reflected with a smile. "Now, let's try it again and this time, don't let your anger control you, no matter how frustrated you get, okay?"

Goten nodded and crouched down again, a determined expression on his face. Gohan beckoned him closer and they started again.

* * *

><p>"Ouch!" Gohan hissed as Chichi probed the area around his left eye. The mother of two tsked impatiently.<p>

"I know I said to train him but I didn't mean that you should get beaten up in the process."

"I'm sorry, Gohan," Goten said contritely from where he watched their mother tend to his older brother. Gohan smiled at him reassuringly.

"It's okay. I didn't pay attention for a moment and you seized your chance. Things like that happen in the training all the time. As a matter of fact," he continued, seeing Goten perk up, "it was a very good job, the way you reacted promptly to my distraction."

Chichi gave a frustrated sigh that sounded a lot like 'Saiyans!' and laid an icepack against Gohan's face with more force than necessary, prompting another pain-laced hiss from him.

"The swelling's not bad but you are going to have a black eye for a day or two."

"But I'm a Saiyan," Gohan protested. "We heal faster than that."

"That's why I said a day or two. Human would take at least four," Chichi replied. "Your father got bruises like this all the time so I should know."

"What do I say in school?" Gohan worried. He might have been somewhat clueless on social interaction but even he knew that the best student in the school turning up with a black eye would be considered a worthy source of gossip.

"You walked into a door," Chichi said with just a hint of amusement. "I believe that's the common excuse."

Gohan probed the swollen area around his eye and sighed. He could already imagine his friends' reactions to his appearance next day.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Goha-" Erasa stopped herself and blinked twice at the sight in front of her. "What happened to you?"<p>

"Officially? I walked into a door," Gohan said as he sat down, glad that Videl was not yet present. There was a stifled laugh from Sharpener before the blond boy leaned over to check out his friend's face.

"And unofficially?" he grinned teasingly.

"My brother punched me."

"Your brother?" Erasa asked curiously. "I didn't even know you had a brother."

"His name is Goten," Gohan informed them. "He's seven," he added before they could ask.

"What did you do?" Sharpener chuckled. "Stole his cookie?"

"No, we were sparring."

"I thought you weren't interested in fighting anymore," Videl's voice came from behind. She had apparently arrived just in time to hear their last exchange. Gohan ran his hand through his hair nervously.

"Well, he's my brother and with my Dad gone, I'm the only one who can train him. At least my Mom thinks so and she's right in a way."

"Martial arts being passed down the family line, right?" Videl asked and stopped over Gohan, leaning down to look at his black eye. Gohan froze but Videl didn't seem to notice, she merely raised an impressed eyebrow. "Wow, he must be pretty strong. That is an impressive shiner."

Erasa giggled and Gohan cleared his throat uncomfortably, relieved when Videl pulled away and sat down in her place.

"Yeah, he's much stronger than I was at his age."

"I guess it's not surprising, what with your father being Goku Son," Videl spoke up. Gohan glanced at her, surprised at her calm tone.

"Aren't you angry?" he asked and Videl frowned, not understanding his inquiry.

"Why should I be angry?"

"I said I wouldn't train you but I'm training my brother now."

Videl rolled her eyes.

"He's your brother. It's natural he gets to be an exception. Besides, you found me another teacher, so I have nothing to complain about. Which reminds me, are we still on for Saturday?"

"Yes," Gohan nodded, glad that there would be no problem.

"Wait a moment!" Erasa spoke up, looking between Gohan and Videl. "What's happening on Saturday?"

"Gohan's taking me to one of his father's friends so that I can further my training," Videl explained, her tone bland. "He's living deep in the Great Mountains and it's hard to find his house. I need a guide and Gohan volunteered. Besides," she added, "the man fought against the aliens eleven years back so I plan on asking some questions, too."

Gohan's head whipped around almost of its own accord. That was definitely news for him. Videl smirked when she saw his panicked expression.

"Relax, Gohan," she soothed. "I'll run those questions by you and the guys before Saturday."

"Oh, yeah, your interrupted presentation," Erasa recalled the memorable Monday. "What are you going to ask?"

"Mostly if he knew how the aliens called themselves, where were they from and how they were beaten in the end."

_Saiyans. Planet Vegeta which was destroyed almost 40 years ago. My Dad mostly,_ Gohan answered the questions in his mind and then swallowed heavily. He knew that sooner or later all of those things would get answered. He thought he had come to terms with all of it being revealed but a part of him was still scared of the resulting reactions on his friends' side.

"What's his name?" Gohan heard Sharpener ask and focused back on the conversation.

"Tien. He also goes by Tenshinhan, I believe. He won the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament."

"Wow," Sharpener whistled appreciatively. "A personal training from another Champion. Someone is very lucky."

"Does that mean you'll be learning those 'tricks'?" Erasa asked, making inverted commas with her fingers when she said tricks.

"Probably. And no," Videl cut her blond friend off before she could ask. "I'm not telling you anything, no matter how much you beg."

Erasa pouted at that but Sharpener was more interested in another thing.

"What does your father think about all of this?"

"I didn't tell him yet," Videl replied nonchalantly. "He stopped being interested in my training a couple of years ago, saying I could get by on my own, so I do."

"Won't he be angry with you, though? This is, after all, pretty big," Gohan asked this time but Videl only shrugged.

"He doesn't get angry with me. He freaks out and talks a lot. He's such a drama queen sometimes," she sighed but then she smiled. "He'll get over it. I think that even if I learned how to fly, he wouldn't make a fuss for long. He would most likely say something about me not flying off with a boy. I swear, he's more scared of me finding a boyfriend than of anything else."

Erasa started giggling again at that and Sharpener looked over at Gohan who was trying to decide how to react to such a diatribe.

"Not what you'd expect from the World Saviour, huh?" the blonde commented. "Videl, you should introduce Gohan to your Dad some time soon. With you two working on that project together and being in the same class, nevermind the weekend trips to other martial arts masters, it would be easy to get a wrong impression," he waggled his eyebrows playfully at the two. "Keep on like that and Gohan finds himself challenged to a fight with Mr. Satan."

Videl frowned.

"That's not funny, Sharpener," she retorted. "And don't scare Gohan like that."

"I'm not scared," Gohan protested. He could take Mr. Satan anytime he wanted. Neglected training or not, Gohan stood far above the majority of Earth fighters.

"Sure, you're not," Sharpener ribbed him again but seeing that Gohan remained serious, it was his turn to be surprised. "You really would be willing to take on Mr. Satan in a fight?"

"Not really willing, but if I had to, I could fight him without any problem."

That caught Videl's attention and she stared at Gohan with a peculiar expression on her face, half-intrigued, half-bemused.

"You mean to tell me that you are confident enough that you could face my father, the World Champion of martial arts and the man who beat Cell and to actually hold your own against him?"

"Yes," Gohan said matter-of-factly because to him, it was a matter of fact that he could do that. "But I have no reason to fight him so the debate is pointless."

"Of course," Erasa interjected, glancing slyly at Videl, who was keeping her expression as blank as she could. "No reason at all."

"That's what I just said," Gohan confirmed, not really getting why Sharpener was covering his mouth to muffle his laughter or why Videl's ki was spiking erratically or why Erasa didn't even try to mask her amusement. "Did I say anything funny?"

"No, Gohan," Erasa assured him between her giggles. "Nothing funny at all."

"Oh," Gohan intoned, still feeling as if he was missing on some joke but he let it go for the time since the teacher arrived at just that moment and the class settled down. Sending one last glance in Videl's direction, he resolved to ask her later what it all was about. That was, if she calmed down anytime soon.

_TBC_

**A/N:** Another character development focused chapter. We should delve into Videl's training next and maybe there will be an attack on OSHS soon. We shall see. Until Monday, then.


	12. Chapter 12

I like the clueless Gohan a lot as you have probably noticed. Makes for great humour.

* * *

><p>Bulma called Gohan on Thursday night that several of the injured teenagers had finally woken up.<p>

"We're interviewing them right now about what they remember from the attack. So far, all of them claim that a single man caused that explosion," Bulma said in a grave tone. Gohan closed his eyes. That was the worst possible scenario. Up until then, he had hoped that no ki user would have been found responsible and that a new explosive had been used, as unlikely as that had sounded.

"What does that mean for us?" he asked.

"Nothing good," Bulma replied. "The good news is that even the basic description leaves all of the Z-Warriors out of it. The bad news is that there is a ki user powerful enough to destroy a building with one blast. And Tomy's being a bastard about it all, once again pressuring the governments to stop the project."

"Bulma, would it be possible for me to talk to the survivors?" Gohan asked, remembering his decision to investigate the matter as his masked persona. "As a Saiyaman, I mean."

"I don't see why not," Bulma spoke thoughtfully. "You might bring a fresh point of view to all of this."

Gohan's eyes landed on his watch and the hidden communicator within. There was someone else who was taking an interest in the situation. Someone who had demonstrated several times by then the uncanny ability to draw a correct conclusion from meager clues. Someone who was quite angry with Saiyaman most of the time. Extending this invitation would be like offering an olive branch.

"Can I take Videl along?" Gohan was quite sure Bulma choked when hearing that. "Are you okay, Bulma?"

"Just fine," she said, a fairly disbelieving tone in her voice. "You want to take Videl Satan with you?"

"Yes, she's quite good when it comes to deducing things. She could be of great help to us."

"And what if she finds out your true identity? Aren't you afraid of that?"

Gohan swallowed heavily. That thought had occured to him but the possible gain was worth the risk. Besides, he was quite sure by now that even if Videl found out who was hiding behind the Saiyaman's helmet, she would keep it to herself. She had already guessed at Gohan's abilities and Gohan was sure that if he explained that the costume was to protect his family, she would understand the need for secrecy.

"That's something I have to risk. Besides, we're getting along at school so even if she found out, I'm sure there wouldn't be a problem. All I have to do is to weather out her killing intent."

"Killing intent?"

"It's when you use your energy to make your opponent afraid of you," Gohan explained. "She's doing it unconsciously, I'm sure. And due to the difference in our strengths, I get only nervous around her, not scared."

There was another choking sound on the other end of line. It sounded suspiciously like laughter. Gohan frowned. What could have been so funny about what he had said?

"Are you sure you are okay, Bulma?" he questioned and then heard Bulma take several deep breaths.

"Let me get this straight," she said, an amused tone in her voice. "You get nervous around this girl and you think it's due to her radiating her killing intent? Oh, Gohan," she laughed out right. "You're hopeless."

"What do you mean by that?" Gohan demanded. His explanation fit perfectly. And Bulma wasn't a fighter, either, so she didn't know about killing intent and its effects on a person.

"I think I'm going to let you figure it out for yourself," Bulma said cheekily. "I'm going to make some calls to grant you and your friend an access into the hospital. Say hello to the guy on the guard duty for me."

With that, Bulma ended the call and Gohan stared at the receiver for a moment before he put it down. Bulma was acting strange. Then again, Gohan had admitted to himself a long time ago that when it came to figuring out the females he knew, he was woefully unprepared. He would just have to wait and see if he would be able to find out what Bulma's remark was all about. In the mean time, Gohan glanced at his watch and picked it up, he had other matters to attend to.

"Videl here," came his classmate's voice almost immediately after he put the call through.

"Good evening, Miss Videl," Gohan greeted, his hero voice echoing in his room.

"Saiyaman," Videl said, obviously surprised. "I have to admit I didn't expect this."

"This is not a social call, Miss Videl. I am calling you because I require your assistance in certain investigation," Gohan spoke in calm tone, though he himself felt far from being calm.

"What investigation?" Videl asked, her interest obviously picked.

"You are aware of the explosion on Papaya Island, correct?"

"It has been the main topic in the world for the past several days, Saiyaman, so yes, I'm aware of it," she answered with a notable sarcasm.

"I have been informed that some of the survivors have finally woken up," Gohan said and Videl sucked in her breath, her attention captured fully by that. "I have obtained a permission to talk to them and the permission extends to you, as well. I would be very much obliged if you would accompany me to the hospital and assist me with the interviews," he was talking far more formally than usual but Gohan didn't seem to notice.

"You want me to go with you?" Videl asked suspiciously. "Why?"

"I have heard a lot about your deductive abilities. I believe that our cooperation would prove beneficial in this matter."

"Interesting," Videl murmured. "So you think we should work on this case together?"

"That is correct, Miss Videl," Gohan confirmed.

"What happened to running away from me?" she teased.

"I... I don't know what you're talking about," Gohan stammered out a denial, all the time knowing it was futile. Judgin from Videl's chuckle, she knew as well.

"Sure you don't," she drawled before getting back to business. "Very well, I'll work with you on this. Where and when should we meet?"

"I think it would be best if I picked you up and flew you there," Gohan proposed, already having given some thought on the transportation. "The jet copter is far too slow and I can have us at Papaya Island in ten minutes."

"Wow, that's fast," Videl commented. "So I can expect you in what? Five minutes from now? And do you even know where I live?"

"I can track down your ki. It's very high so there should be no problem with that."

"Okay, Saiyaman. See you in five minutes."

Gohan pressed the button on his watch to end the call before he put it on to change into the Great Saiyaman costume and ducked out of the room to tell his mother where he was going.

* * *

><p>Chichi was understandably not happy about him flying half-way round the world on the school night but with Gohan pointing out that his speed would get him back well before midnight if he left immediately, she relented. Of course, Gohan mentioning that Videl was accompanying him caused Chichi to raise both eyebrows but she declined to comment. For the moment, anyway.<p>

As Gohan flew over Satan City, he easily picked up Videl's energy signal. It was once again slightly agitated and as he approached a large mansion surrounded by an enormous garden, he could make out Videl pacing the length of an outer balcony, occasionally glancing upwards.

"Good evening, Miss Videl," Gohan announced his presence a moment before he dropped down in front of her. She yelped and jumped back, automatically falling into a fighting position before she recognized him and relaxed.

"You idiot!" she half-screamed at him. "Don't startle me like that again!"

Gohan rubbed the back of his helmet sheepishly. He didn't mean to startle her. He had simply forgotten that she had no clue about sensing other people's kis and so had no warning of his arrival.

"I apologize, Miss Videl. I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's fine," Videl waved off his apology, her breathing back to normal. "Shall we go?"

"Yes, here," Gohan turned around and crouched down. "Get on my back and hold on tightly. We'll be going quite fast."

"You are going to carry me on your back?" Videl asked, an astonishment colouring her voice.

"Yes?" Gohan replied uncertainly. "I mean, it's the best solution since you can't fly on your own. Isn't it?"

"You are right," Videl spoke up before she climbed on his back, putting her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. "But aren't you afraid I'll try to take off your helmet in this position?"

Gohan paused. He hadn't thought of that.

"It didn't occur to me," he admitted and felt as she shook her head, one of her pigtails slipping down across his shoulder as she leaned over to talk right into his ear.

"How very careless of you, Saiyaman," she pronounced but then she straightened up. "Don't worry, I won't try anything. I promise."

"Good, now hold on," Gohan advised and launched into the air, quickly gaining altitude before turning around and heading south-east. Videl tightened her grip on him at first but she relaxed after a short while when she grew certain he wouldn't drop her.

"This is amazing!" she shouted to be heard over the passing wind and Gohan felt himself nodding in agreement. It was strange, though. When he had been carrying Launch the other day, all he had noticed had been the slight additional weight. With Videl, he was almost hyper-aware of every point of contact between them. The slight grip she maintained on his shoulders, her stray hair slapping against his helmet, the flexing of her legs as she propped herself higher on his back so she could speak to him better, he noticed all of these things and the strangest thing of all was - he liked how all of that felt. _Focus, Gohan,_ he reprimanded himself.

"Once you learn how to fly on your own, it will get even better!" he shouted back at her and saw her smile in his periphery vision.

"We can have a race then," she suggested and Gohan found himself grinning.

"Getting confident, Miss Videl?" he challenged.

"You have no idea!" she replied and laughed, a pure, happy sound that vibrated throughout her whole body. Gohan didn't reply to that, focusing instead on his destination. It had been still light near the Mount Paozu when he had taken off westward for Videl's home but since he had left Satan City he had turned east and the sky was getting darker the further he flew. Flying over the ocean, the night fell quickly and Gohan kept glancing down at the scattered lights of the inhabited islands. Luckily, he remembered his previous flight to Papaya Island and he spotted it soon after. Touching down carefully, he bent his legs and Videl slipped off his back, a huge smile still on her face.

"That was great!" she exclaimed and then started to fuss with her hair which was very much windswept and tangled. "I'll have to braid it for the way back," she commented as she quickly combed it with her fingers to restore some semblance of tidiness. "I didn't expect it to get so windy."

"Maybe you should think of changing your hairstyle for something more suited to flying," Gohan suggested, observing the mass of dark hair that Videl was attempting to tame.

"Maybe," she replied, finally retying her hair in the familiar twin pigtails. "Let's go," she ordered and set off for the hospital which was less than a hundred feet away. They entered without any trouble but before they could even inquire at the help desk for the location of the injured students, a voice hailed them from across the hall.

"Hey, Great Saiyaman, over here!"

Gohan turned at the familiar voice, recognizing the tall man with scarred face immediately.

"Yamcha!" he said in surprise as the tall fighter waved them over. "What are you doing here?"

"Guard duty," Yamcha explained, offering a hand to Videl. "Hi, I'm Yamcha. And you must be Videl. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too," Videl replied and shook his hand. Gohan could practically see the wheels in her head turning to file this new information away.

"Guard duty?" he asked to distract Videl from any questions she might have otherwise had. Yamcha turned to lead them towards the elevators.

"Yes, Bulma is worried for the students' well-being in case the attack is repeated. We are all taking turns watching out."

"Why didn't she ask me?" Gohan demanded, affronted at being left out before he remembered that Videl was present as well and any mention of school, which was the most likely reason, would set her on the right track in finding out his true identity. Luckily, Yamcha was skilled at handling difficult questions.

"She didn't want to take you away from your duties," the baseball player replied as the elevator door closed behind them and Videl seized the chance to enter the conversation.

"When you say Bulma, you mean Bulma Briefs?" she demanded.

"The one and only," Yamcha spoke up loftily before grinning which spoiled the effect but then he got serious. "She put a lot of effort into this project and she wants the culprit caught as soon as possible. The police have had the portrait drawn already and are now comparing it with their database. Most of the students who woke up fell asleep again but one girl, Melina, is awake and waiting for you. I think she is a fan of yours, Videl."

"This project being?" Videl was not easily deterred and Yamcha looked at Gohan who merely shrugged, signalling that Yamcha was on his own this time. They exited the elevator and walked past a heavily guarded door into a separate wing, the security guards letting them pass after getting a nod from Yamcha.

"The Investigative Science," Yamcha said and forestalling further questions, continued quickly. "A lot of Bulma's friends, even some members of her family, are capable of performing those 'tricks' as your father calls them and Bulma got tired of those people being labeled as liars. So she set out to change the world again and educate at least some people of what is out there. She does that now and then," he commented idly.

Videl fell silent, digesting the information. Yamcha glanced at Gohan askingly but Gohan shook his head. He didn't know what Videl would say or do any better than Yamcha.

"Well, here we are," Yamcha spoke and stopped in front of one door. He opened them and stuck his head inside. "Melina? Videl and Saiyaman are here to see you. Can I send them in?" the answer must have been positive because Yamcha stepped aside and waved the two of them through. "Don't keep her up for long," he warned before he walked off again.

Gohan and Videl entered the room. There were four occupied beds, all four patients hooked up to various machines, with numerous tubes and wires attached to their bodies. Three of them slept peacefully, the fourth, a young girl of maybe sixteen, sitting propped up and gazing expectantly at the door. Her eyes grew big when she recognized Videl and she tried to sit up straighter.

"Don't push yourself," Videl warned and quickly crossed the room, taking one heavily bandaged hand into her own. "Your name is Melina, right?"

"Yes, Miss Satan, I-" Melina started coughing. Gohan quickly grabbed a glass of water and handed it over. "Thank you," the girl said, her voice raspy but clear again.

"Melina," Videl sat down on the bed. "We won't take much of your time but could you tell us what happened on Monday?"

"Mhm," Melina nodded, leaning against the pillows. "We were in the middle of the class, Juno was presenting her group's findings on the contestants of the 21st WMAT. Someone knocked at the door. Mr. Commens opened the door and there was this man."

"What did he look like?" Videl interrupted.

"He was young, twenty-something. Five feet ten, maybe more. Shorter than him," she pointed at Gohan, "But not by much. He had dark brown hair and his eyes were cold," Melina shivered.

"Cold?" Gohan asked. The girl nodded.

"He looked through us. Like we weren't important to him. Like we were just insects or something. And then he raised his hand and it started glowing," Melina gulped. "Ryan tackled him down and screamed for us to run away. Ryan was training in old martial arts," she explained. "And the guy threw him off easily. Ryan was slammed against the wall and didn't get up. We panicked and started running around. Some of us jumped out of the window, others ran for the door. The classroom was on the ground level. But before we could run further away, there was this boom and something threw me to the ground and I remember nothing after that."

The three of them remained silent before Melina looked up at them again.

"Will you get the guy who did it?"

"Yes, we will," Videl said in a strong voice and Gohan echoed her words.

"He won't escape, Melina, I promise," there was such a conviction in his statement that Melina smiled tentatively at the helmeted hero.

"Thank you," she whispered and sank back into her pillows.

"Get some rest," Videl advised to the girl and stood up, watching Melina as her eyes closed and she succumbed to sleep. Gohan was already at the door, waiting for her and they left the room as quietly as they could. Out in the corridor, Videl turned to face Gohan.

"We're taking the bastard down, Saiyaman, no matter what it takes."

"I fully agree, Miss Videl."

"So, I guess this means we will be working together. Truce?" she offered him a hand and Gohan shook it quickly.

"Truce," he agreed. Videl turned to walk down the corridor.

"Let's go have a look at that portrait, Saiyaman."

"All right, Miss Videl. Lead the way."

They had a long night ahead for them, Gohan suspected but he didn't begrudge the loss of sleep that would follow. After all, there were more important things at stake than his sleep.

_TBC_

**A/N:** I know I said there would be Videl's training soon but some things had to be clarified and expanded on. Besides, it gave me a chance to slip in some Gohan/Videl time :)


	13. Chapter 13

We have reached 150 reviews. Good job and thank you all.

I have one note regarding the world this takes place in: I am a subscriber of the theory that the Dragon Ball world is an alternate Earth, sometime in the future after a major disaster which necessitated the use of the dragon balls to restore it back. The use od DB changed the landmasses, brought back the dinosaurs, created the animal hybrids etc. That's why the counting of years is the way it is - i.e. this story takes place in a year 774 AD. More over, a lot of the culture and knowledge from before was kept. So if I happen to mention, I don't know, Shakespeare or Journey to the West (as a sort of inside joke), don't be surprised by that.

Oh, and remember, this story is told from a 3rd person POV limited, which means we can see into Gohan's head but what others think shall remain obscured, though I might add a few peaks into Videl's head, just to shake things up a bit. And now, after the long A/N, finally on to the story.

* * *

><p>Gohan almost slept in on Friday morning, regardless of his reassurances to his mother that his late return home - it was close to one a.m. when he had come back - wouldn't effect his schedule. The police on Papaya Island had been very cooperative with him and Videl. Apparently, their reputations, especially Videl's, had spread and so there had been no trouble for them to be admitted to the investigation. They had spent several hours browsing the police database, comparing the portraits within with the sketch of the attacker but they had had no luck. Either it had been the guy's first crime or he hadn't been caught nor suspected before. Only when midnight had come and gone had Videl admitted a defeat, a phone call from her frantic father demanding to know where she had disappeared to, also helping.<p>

Gohan had dropped her off back at the mansion and flown back at a leisurely pace, using the peace of the night to settle his thoughts. The most disturbing fact had been the unknown identity of the attacker. He must have been a ki user but Gohan couldn't remember seeing him before. Granted, he had been taken aback at the knowledge that there had been ki users other than his group of friends around but shouldn't he have at least felt him sometimes? If Gohan concentrated, he could track down all of his friends by their ki easily. Why then wouldn't he feel someone else as well? Especially someone relatively strong like that?

Gohan had decided at last to discuss these things with Tien on Saturday, if they found some time and maybe he should pay a visit to Piccolo as well. Both Piccolo and Tien had years of experience on Gohan. They might have some idea as to what had been going on.

That problem decided, Gohan pondered his other trouble, namely Videl. She had a puzzling influence on his behaviour. She made him very nervous half of the time but he still wanted to be in her company. He considered her his friend but not in the way that Krillin was his friend. And it wasn't because she was a girl, either. Gohan was fairly sure that by then, he could call Erasa his friend as well. But when he thought of Erasa, he automatically put her in a group with Sharpener, Kopeer and Paper as his school friends. Videl should be in that group, too but his mind put her apart from them. Why was that?

Bulma knew something, he was sure of that but how could he make her tell him? She seemed to derive some amusement from his confusion and if Gohan knew anything about Bulma Briefs, it was that she was extremely stubborn and if she wanted to have a fun at his expense, she would hold out for as long as she wanted.

Asking his mother was also an option but something in him was reluctant to talk to her. Just thinking about asking Chichi brought a wave of embarrassment that he could not understand but it discouraged him from voicing his questions to her. Piccolo came to mind next but he was a stranger to humans and their emotions and wouldn't be of much help to him. It was hopeless, Gohan had decided as his home had come to sight. He would have to put the whole Videl thing aside for the time being and focus on the ki attacker. That was the best option he had. And maybe things would fall into place on their own. He could always hope.

That had been the last night and in the morning, things didn't look any better. Gohan was running late and his only saving grace had been his flying speed which got him to school just in the nick of time. He slipped into the classroom shortly before the teacher and had only time to nod a greeting to Erasa, Sharpener and a tired looking Videl. The girl that had occupied so much of his thoughts recently was leaning on one hand, yawning discreetly now and then. She obviously hadn't gotten a lot of sleep last night, either, something which didn't go unnoticed by Erasa who kept whispering questions all throughout the lesson. Gohan heard all of it and found out that Videl had stayed up for more than two hours after Saiyaman had dropped her off, doing her own investigation in the police database. With only about four hours of sleep, it was no wonder she looked that tired.

The only time she spoke to Gohan was to confirm their meeting time and place on the following day and otherwise she seemed to ignore him. There was that one time she had looked at him strangely when Sharpener teased him about almost being late and Gohan laughed, scratched the back of his head and admitted to oversleeping but other than that one incident, Videl kept to herself. Although there seemed to be an air of realization about her, a sense of accomplishment, of having figured out a long standing secret.

* * *

><p>What exactly Videl had figured out Gohan found out soon after meeting her on Saturday morning. She was standing beside her jetcopter, dressed in her usual attire of shorts and a T-shirt and holding a small bag which most likely contained her fighting gi in one hand.<p>

"Good morning, Videl," Gohan greeted her pleasantly.

"Morning, Gohan. Ready to fly out?" she asked and smiled at him which contrary to his usual reaction to her smile put him on guard.

"Yes. I have the coordinates here," he showed her a piece of paper, "so if you have a navigational system, you can put them in."

"Actually," Videl spoke, "I was thinking that you could fly us there."

"Me? I don't know how to fly a jetcopter," Gohan protested, a feeling of apprehension he had felt from the moment she had smiled intensifying.

"I didn't mean in a jetcopter, Gohan. Or should I say, Saiyaman?"

Gohan froze for a moment and realized immediately that that had been a mistake. Staring at Videl as a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car was as good as an outright confession. He could deny it, of course, but the knowing glint in Videl's eyes told him it would be futile. So he resigned himself to his fate.

"How would you find out?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly and Videl rolled her eyes.

"Seriously? That gesture is what tipped me off. I am good at studying a body language. I remember and catalogue all of the strange quirks and habits people around me have. Saiyaman rubbed the back of his head anytime he was confused or embarrassed and I noticed yesterday you are doing the same. Then I realized that you are the same height and from what I could see of Saiyaman's face, I could tell he was pretty young. Add to that the fact that you admitted you were capable of flying and were trained in martial arts and it all fit together. I am good at putting things together. Good at deducing things. You said it yourself on Thursday."

Gohan chuckled. Videl was clearly proud of herself and it was hard to begrudge her this success, not when he had expected from the beginning that it would happen.

"I thought it would take longer than that, though," he admitted.

"Please," Videl replied, "You're terrible at keeping secrets and at lying."

"It might be so, everyone I know keeps saying that."

"Why would you do it, though?" she asked. "I mean, you said you are not interested in fighting and yet, you put on that costume and go out to fight criminals."

"I guess it's just in my nature," Gohan said slowly. He had never taken much thought about why he would want to help out people like that. It was just something he had to do. He couldn't just stand by and let other people be hurt, not when he had means to prevent it. But putting it into words was difficult. Videl seemed to sense his confusion because she opened the door to her jetcopter and climbed in.

"Get in," she ordered. "We'll fly this way so we can talk more. Thursday showed me that talking in a mid-flight makes for a lousy conversation."

Gohan obeyed, climbing into the passenger seat and strapping in. He handed the coordinates to Videl and they were both silent while she raised the machine into the flying altitude and set the course.

"It's on an autopilot," she explained as she turned away from the controls, making herself more comfortable and facing Gohan. "So why did you put on the costume and go out to fight crime?"

"I like helping people. I have some extraordinary abilities, as you have noticed and even though I don't want to fight anymore, not the way I had to fight when I was younger, it seemed a waste not to use them. Not when I saw that I could do some good with what I am capable of."

"A regular superhero," Videl commented. "But why the costume?"

"To protect my family," Gohan replied without hesitation. "If my identity was known, my Mom and my little brother would be in a spotlight, too. And it would be only a matter of time before some people would try to hurt them to get at me. Besides, there are my abilities. I can fly, I'm much stronger than a regular human, I'm so fast I can catch bullets with my bare hands. That's enough to scare people. If they saw that an ordinary boy of sixteen was doing that, they would call me a monster or a freak and they wouldn't accept my help. That costume made me into someone they can trust, ironic as that is."

Videl nodded slowly. The only reason why her work as the resident crimefighter hadn't backlashed at her yet was because her father was her only family and only a truly crazy person would attack the Champion and the Defeater of Cell. As for the people being scared of Gohan, well, she had had her eyes opened for her in the last weeks but the majority of people still lived believing all of those things like flying were just a trick. An ordinary looking boy using tricks would be met with suspicion. A colourfully garbed superhero, though, he was practically expected to be able to do things other people can't. It was extremely smart once you thought of it.

"That's really smart," Videl voiced some of her thoughts aloud. Gohan grinned proudly at that and she grinned back. "So, this Tien guy, what is he like?" she asked after a few moments.

"He's a good fighter and a good friend. He's brave but sometimes reckless. And he tends to hold grudges for years," Gohan said, recalling the conversation that Bulma and Launch had had a week before.

"How come?"

"You have realized by now that Tien is, just like me, a Z-Warrior?"

Videl nodded.

"It was Yajirobe who came up with that name and it stuck," Gohan explained. "The thing is, not all people in our group were friends at first. Some of them started out as our enemies and only joined because there was another enemy that required us to cooperate. And Tien still cannot get over what one of these former enemies had done when we had met."

"The short spiky-haired alien?" Videl asked, surprising Gohan but he nodded and confirmed her guess.

"Yeah, him. But how-"

She didn't let him finish.

"That picture from the Cell Games. That alien stood with the Z-Warriors, clearly opposing Cell. That was the common enemy that had united you, wasn't he?"

Gohan shook his head.

"That would be Freeza. You couldn't have heard of him," he added at her questioning look. "He was killed before he could do much harm to the Earth. By Cell Games, Vegeta was a part of the team, though he was still in denial back then," Gohan smiled at that. Bulma had once started ranting about Vegeta when Gohan was picking up little Goten and she had gone into considerable details regarding the Saiyan's faults and shortcomings, him being in denial of Earth being his home until well after the Cell Games being one of those faults.

"So, that's another alien living on Earth," Videl spoke. "Makes me wonder where Miss Trigger is getting her info from."

"I almost forgot," Gohan exclaimed. Videl would have had a shock meeting Tien's wife if he didn't warn her. "You are going to meet her today."

"I am?" Videl stared at him intently. "How come?"

"Well," Gohan started rubbing the back of his head before he realized he was doing it and Videl's knowing smile made him snatch his hand back sheepishly. "She is actually married to Tien," he revealed and watched as Videl's eyes widened and then narrowed.

"And how long have you known that?"

"Since last Saturday?" he offered and added. "If it helps, it was a big shock to me, too."

"I bet it was," Videl snorted but she regarded him with a curiousity. "I wonder just how many surprises and secrets there are regarding you and your friends."

"A lot," Gohan admitted and Videl smirked.

"So I better be prepared for anything. Honestly, Gohan. For such an ordinary guy, you are turning out to have more secrets than the United Governments put together."

"Seems that way," Gohan sighed. "I just wanted to be normal, you know."

"I think all of us wish to be normal sometimes."

"Spoken like a true celebrity," Gohan teased and Videl swatted at his arm.

"You are starting to talk like Sharpener."

"Is that supposed to be an insult?"

"It's supposed to be a warning not to do that. Or I will kick your ass," Videl warned but Gohan laughed, feeling reckless and encouraged by the easy banter they shared.

"Videl, you are strong and you have a lot of potential but training or not, I can beat you anytime I want," he spoke up and watched as her eyes narrowed in anger.

"Care to put your money where your mouth is, Son?" she challenged and Gohan nodded.

"Sure. How much?"

"How about this? You beat me and I admit that you are stronger than me."

"I am stronger-" Gohan tried to say but Videl spoke over him.

"I beat you and you answer all of my questions truthfully, no matter what I ask. Deal?"

"Deal," Gohan shook her hand and Videl smiled triumphantly.

"Since we want this to be fair, how about we have the match in, say, two months from now. So that I have a benefit of being able to use some techniques, too."

"Sounds fair," Gohan agreed, sure that no matter how much Videl trained, she wouldn't be able to defeat him. They were silent after that, Gohan was watching the scenery pass by at a snail's pace to him while Videl studied his profile in between checking on their flight.

The Great Mountains appeared after some time and as they came closer, they rose ever higher until they towered above them, their snowed-in peaks glittering in the sun. Videl turned off the autopilot and followed one of the passes until they emerged into a valley that was still green for the most part, even though the autumn was setting in quickly and the yellowing grass was spreading across the ground.

Gohan could already sense Tien and when he focused, he could make out the familiar ki signature of Launch. He didn't sense Chiaotzu, though and he wondered where the small man might be. And then there was the house that he had only glanced at the previous week, nestled at the side of the valley and fitting into the rustic surroundings.

Videl brought the jetcopter down in front of the house just as a tall, three-eyed man wearing a green coloured gi emerged from inside. He was looking at them with a slight smile that widened when Gohan stepped out.

"Gohan, good to see you again. You have grown tall," Tien said and Gohan went forward, shaking hands with one of his old friends.

"Good to see you, too. Sorry about the last week. I was in a hurry and well," Gohan rubbed the back of his head but Tien shook his head.

"I understand. Now, where's this girl I'm supposed to train?"

Videl hung back while the two of them said their hellos but now she stepped forward, squaring her shoulders as she looked up at the man that would hopefully become her teacher.

"Master Tenshinhan," she bowed lowly as was befitting of a student in the presence of a master. "I am honoured to make your acquaintance."

Tien, even though he looked slightly taken aback, put his hands together and bowed back, though not nearly as low.

"The honour is mutual, Videl Satan," he straightened up and looked her up and down, studying her intently. "Yes, just like you said, Gohan. Strong, with a lot of potential but untrained. We'll have a spar," he announced to the short girl. "And after that, I decide if I'll teach you."

"Thank you, Master Tenshinhan," Videl replied and Tien grimaced.

"Call me Tien, I'm more used to that."

"All right, Tien," Videl said hesitantly before noticing how Gohan was looking at her. "What?" she snapped.

"I have never seen you being so polite," Gohan said wonderingly and Videl fumed.

"It's called a basic courtesy. He's a martial arts Champion, I'm still a student. I'm merely showing him a proper respect."

"I didn't mean anything by it," Gohan protested. "It was just an observation."

"Maybe I should let you two fight it out," Tien suggested, his expression one of amusement. "I can study Videl's moves even better that way."

"Or you can ask them to come inside," Launch called out from the doorway. "You can always fight later. I swear, for all you dislike Vegeta, you're just as bad as him when it comes to training."

"Miss Trigger," Videl had forgotten what Gohan had told her earlier but now she remembered. The blonde grinned at her.

"It's Launch when we're out of school. I hate that damn alias but Bulma thought she was very clever, giving me a name like that. Now get inside before I pull my gun at you."

"Her gun?" Videl looked at Gohan but he shook his head.

"Don't ask. You don't want to know."

Something in his voice must have persuaded her because she followed him into the house without a word.

_TBC_

**A/N:** I'm ending it for now, the next chapter should be full of fighting, though. I'm going to cut down on the updating tempo. With my finals looming, I have to dedicate some time to studying so the updates will be once a week from now on. I'll try to make longer chapters to make up for that, though. And since some of you don't have a PM enabled or left an anonymous review, I'd like to respond to you this way.

_A-man_: I am keeping the power levels in mind, don't worry. I had the villain(s) thought up from the beginning and I believe it will make sense as to who they are. I can guarantee that no ridiculously overpowered OCs will be found in this story.

_SeanHicks4_: Good guesses and I wish I could say more to you but I don't want to spoil the story. But you are a sharp one, indeed :D Still not right but you came close.

_ArmyofDuckTape_: I think the lack of a clueless Gohan stems from the fact that a lot of people prefer a badass Gohan. I have observed that a lot of people who complain about the post-Cell story has their main beef with Gohan's attitude. He was little Mr. Badass when he beat Cell and then, poof, he's the shy new guy in a school, somewhat nerdy and then came Saiyaman with the coloured costume and Ginyu-inspired poses and it was far from the SS2 Gohan we have seen at the end of the Cell saga and people were disappointed. I have seen several great stories which have Gohan keeping up his training and remaining badass but I have a soft spot for the clueless nerd myself. Besides, I have always seen Gohan as more of a reluctant hero and I liked that about him. He was pushed into those big battles because there was no other option and he performed remarkably but that didn't mean he liked that. But he did what had to be done. That's really admirable and that's why I like Gohan so much (third place in my top ten of DB/Z favourite characters, right after Future Trunks and Vegeta).

BTW, anyone here a fan of A Song of Ice and Fire or the Game of Thrones?


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